Destined, 1x2 Marketplace of Souls
by Twin-Swords
Summary: With the Book of Shadows in their possession, it is time for the Halliwell brothers to face up to their magical destinies... and realise just how important they are to one another. COMPLETE!
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Chris and Wyatt Halliwell, although I wish I did. I don't own Charmed either. It's such a tragedy, really. I know you guys agree with me, don't you?

**Author's Note:** I couldn't do any of this without Jennifer (_strikermac_), my beta-reader, revisionist, inspirationist (still don't care that it's not a real word), and co-author all in one. I think we make a great team. :) Anyway, this is the second episode in my "Destined" series. If you haven't read the Pilot episode, I'd recommend reading that first, but it's not one hundred percent necessary. It's just very helpful for knowing some of the additional characters that are a part of the series. That and I'm hoping if you go back and read that one, you'll write me a nice review and make me happy. You'll make me super happy if you review this story too!

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**Destined: The Charmed Sons**

**Episode 1.2, Marketplace of Souls**

**Prologue**

Twenty-year-old Christopher Halliwell was sitting on the couch in his apartment's living room looking anxiously at the large, historic looking tome resting on their coffee table. It was his family's Book of Shadows, which just last week had been passed on to he and his older brother Wyatt. The coffee table was such an undignified place for such an important book. Chris couldn't help thinking that their mother had finally lost her mind for giving them the Book now.

Chris had no idea if he could live up to all that the Book meant. It was such a great responsibility and such a huge legacy that had been handed down to them. Their great, great, great, however many greats grandmother Melinda Warren had begun that book. It had been passed down to generation after generation of their family line. And here it was sitting on their coffee table. Which brought Chris back to the start of what had him sitting there staring at it in the first place. Chris rested his elbows on his knees and cupped his chin in his hands and sighed, his forehead creasing.

Wyatt Halliwell stepped out of the bathroom, his hair damp from having just gotten out of the shower. A pair of sweatpants clothed the tall, blonde witch's lower body leaving his upper body bare. He toweled off his hair and wrapped the towel around his neck. Wyatt raised his eyebrows when he saw his baby brother staring at their coffee table. More specifically, Chris was staring at the aged tome sitting on their coffee table. The older witch frowned, looking at his sibling in concern.

"Chris, really, you need to relax. You've read the Book cover to cover a hundred times since you could read. Just because its home is here now doesn't mean that it is any different," Wyatt said, walking over.

Chris didn't take his eyes off the Book, "It is different Wyatt. We're the caretakers of the Book now. Evil is drawn to the Book. We are going to have to put a spell on the apartment to make sure no one decides to walk off with it."

"We may need to put a spell on you to get you to relax," Wyatt said, sitting down on the arm of the couch.

Chris looked up at his brother sharply, his green eyes intense. "This isn't a joke Wy, this is THE BOOK OF SHADOWS," Chris said loudly enough to make Wyatt wince. "This means that it is ours now. It is the most important thing in our family and it's sitting on our coffee table like a cheap magazine."

Chris picked the Book up for the first time since it had been placed on the table while their parents were still in town. Leo and Piper had left to return to San Francisco just a few hours ago. Since they had left, all Chris could think about was the responsibility that had just been placed on them. With as much responsibility as Wyatt had by being the prophesied Twice Blessed Witch, he of all people should have understood. Instead Wyatt was looking at his little brother with a lopsided smile. Chris held the book reverently and searched around the small apartment with his eyes. He reached the same conclusion he had a hundred times before when he hadn't been holding the hallowed book in his hands. There was no where in their apartment that would be as dignified as the podium in the Manor's attic. "What was mom thinking?"

"That she was tired of cleaning up after the demons that kept attacking?" Wyatt said. He looked at his brother and sighed. "We'll go look for a podium in the morning if you're so freaked out about this."

"Aren't you the least bit afraid that we are now the caretakers of The Book? That it is up to us to keep evil from getting it? That demons will be knocking on our doors daily to want to fight it out with the Twice-Blessed Wyatt Halliwell and his incredibly handsome and slightly neurotic little brother?" Chris smiled, knowing he had been stressing too much and that Wyatt was worried.

"Conceited much Christopher?" Wyatt asked, giving him a light shove.

"What can I say? But seriously Wy, this is going to change everything. Every generation has taken care of the Book, it's our turn."

Wyatt rolled his eyes and sighed, but finally admitted himself to his little brother, "Fine, I'm scared. Happy? But it's here now and Mom wouldn't give us anything that we couldn't handle."

Chris wrinkled his nose, "She's ready to hand it over so we have to suck it up, that what you're saying?"

The younger Halliwell sat the Book back on the coffee table and moaned, "Fine. Welcome home." Chris reached out to run his fingers over the cover, tracing the triquetra that was their family's symbol. The symbol of the Power of Three that he and his brother had been born from, then looked up at Wyatt.

Wyatt grinned, "Welcome home indeed. Maybe we can get it to…"

Chris cut him off, "It's not a roommate, stupid. We are not getting it to clean the apartment so your lazy ass doesn't have to."

"It was a thought," Wyatt said, then glared, "And keep out of my thoughts, we've been down that road and it gets us in trouble."

"That wasn't me reading your mind, that was me knowing where my slothful brother was about to go with that thought."

"Just like mom."

"Thank you," Chris said, beaming and taking it as a high compliment, but he quickly dissolved into seriousness again, "Now, how are we going to protect it?"

"There has to be a spell," Wyatt said, "let's look it up."

"Where are we going to keep it? No secret space in this apartment," Chris said, looking around again. One hundred and one times and still no revelation of where to store the Book.

"Your room," Wyatt said, standing up. He couldn't help riling his little brother, "You have less overnight guests."

"I also have more sense and haven't made out with a demon," Chris retorted, "So I wouldn't get to cocky."

"Hey, _you_ set me up with her," Wyatt returned.

Chris waved his hand at Wyatt, "Whatever." The dark-haired witch got up and walked across the living room. He opened the door to the small storage closet in the corner of the apartment filled with extra towels, sheets, sports equipment and whatnot. It was a tiny room that he could put a spell on until he could come up with a better idea.

The younger boy's back was towards the apartment, looking into the storage room thoughtfully. He started to set the Book down and stopped, "We need a podium, I can't sit it on a shelf next to our extra towels."

"Neurotic much?" Wyatt asked, moving into the kitchen to pour himself a glass of water from the tap. He tilted the glass back and took a swig when the reflection of the apartment in the window caught his eye. Alarm shot through the older witch as he turned, "Chris get down!"

Chris didn't argue, even though he didn't know what Wyatt was shouting at. If his older brother was telling him to 'get down' he must have good reason. So clutching the Book of Shadows to his chest, Chris dove to the ground and rolled. A Darklighter arrow thunked solidly into the doorframe of the storage closet. Chris's eyes went wide as he looked at the swirl of black orbs that dissipated from the attempted assassination.

Wyatt dropped his glass and rushed over to help his little brother up, "You okay?"

Chris swallowed hard, about to answer when the black orbs swirled back in and rematerialized behind Wyatt. The Darklighter, a man with dark features, dressed in all black aimed his crossbow at Wyatt and fired. Chris waved his right hand, sending the arrow telekinetically back at the Darklighter. Again the demon dematerialized before the Halliwell boys could do anything about it.

Chris and Wyatt stood up, back to back and looked warily around their apartment. Wyatt with his hands up and ready now and Chris holding the Book protectively in one hand with his other hand poised for action. This time when the Darklighter reappeared, Wyatt flicked his wrists and blew it to dust with his combustion power.

The younger brother tightened his jaw and gave Wyatt a glare, "Still think I'm taking this too seriously?"

Opening Credits Roll

Theme song: "Gunslinger (Runnin' Out of Time)" - Over It

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	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** _strikermac_ and I don't own Chris and Wyatt Halliwell, although we wish we did. We don't own Charmed either. It's such a tragedy, really. I know you guys agree with me, don't you?

**Author's Note:** I couldn't do any of this without Jennifer (_strikermac_), my beta-reader, revisionist, inspirationist (still don't care that it's not a real word), and co-author all in one. I think we make a great team. :) Anyway, this is the second episode in my "Destined" series. If you haven't read the Pilot episode, I'd recommend reading that first, but it's not one hundred percent necessary. It's just very helpful for knowing some of the additional characters that are a part of the series. That and I'm hoping if you go back and read that one, you'll write me a nice review. There are also the "Pre-Destined" teenage years stories to read as well if you're just itching for something else to read between updates. Mainly it's just a shameless plug to get more reviews.

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**Destined: The Charmed Sons**

**Episode 1.2, Marketplace of Souls**

Images of Boston flash by showing the city life flowing by. The cars, people out walking their dogs. Ships pulling into port, and all the regular afternoon types of activities in a montage of imagery. Finally the scene settles on a bustling and busy marketplace with numerous shops and vendors.

Song: "New Beginnings" - Finch

**Chapter One**

"You would have to ask Bri about that, I haven't been to Europe in years. Now? Boston," Samara Hayley said into her cell phone as she stepped out of the antique store and into the bustling marketplace. There were shoppers all over and the pleasant buzz of many conversations going on at once. The sandy-haired young woman stopped just outside the store, casually people watching while she talked on her phone. She twirled a large, decorative white feather in her other hand. "As well as can be expected I suppose. I haven't been here long enough to get... no. No, I'm not regretting my decision if that's what you're asking."

She paused, her face wrinkling up in a frown, she mumbled sarcastically into the phone, "Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence." Her honey-hued brown eyes alighted on a pair of young men who were just emerging from a shop a few doors down. The dark-haired young man she recognized immediately as Chris Halliwell, the tall blonde following behind him, she knew to be his brother Wyatt. They were her neighbors in the apartment building she was living in. A smile touched her lips when she saw them. Chris had a determined and focused look on his face, clearly on the hunt for something. Wyatt had the harassed look of someone being dragged on a wild goose chase, bordering on annoyed. The sight was enough to make her forget what her co-worker had just said to her over the phone. She stopped twirling the feather.

"Hmm? Ah, yes. Yes, I'm still here. Sorry," she apologized for spacing out, "No. I haven't seen any sign of him. I'm fine. Quit worrying. Look, Rafael, I've gotta go. Uh-huh, tell my brother that it's taken care of." Samara paused and laughed lightly, "Aren't I always? You too. Bye."

She closed the phone just as Chris and Wyatt reached her. Chris started to walk right past her like a man on a mission, but turned around. A friendly smile lit the young man's face when he stopped in front of their neighbor.

"Hey. Fancy bumping into you here! How've you been? All settled in and enjoying Boston?" Chris asked.

Samara smiled back, tucking her phone into her purse, "All settled in. Not convinced about the enjoying yet, still working on that, but we'll see. You must be Wyatt." She extended her hand towards the muscular blonde. Wyatt took it and smiled warmly.

"Oh, right," Chris looked embarrassed and introduced them, "Wyatt, this is our neighbor that I told you about. Samara. Samara, this is my big brother Wyatt."

"A pleasure to meet you," Wyatt said.

Samara released his hand, "Pleasure is mine. They've got some great stuff in this shop. Don't know what it is you two are looking for, but he has a little bit of everything."

"Thanks," Chris said.

"I'd better get going. Things to get done and all. Good to see you again Chris. It was nice meeting you Wyatt," Samara said. She turned and started off, tucking the white feather into her hair and giving the boys a parting wave.

"Good to see you too!" Chris called after her. He turned and stepped into the shop.

Wyatt followed him, "She seemed nice. Attractive."

"Is that all you think about?"

"No... at the moment, I was also thinking that you're being too picky about this whole podium thing. Why don't I just go get the one from mom?"

"Because I want one of our own, that's why."

Wyatt rolled his eyes, "If you don't find one here, I'm getting the one from the Manor and we'll be done with it."

Chris waved a hand dismissively at his brother and set back about his search.

Chris looked around the forty-second antique store of the day with a critical eye. It was that critical eye that had his older brother at this point looking for other items for the apartment. He'd already replaced several items including glasses and picture frames that had been broken due to Chris' nasty temper. And he'd gotten a sweet deal on a new stereo from a street vendor, even though Wyatt pretty much knew it had been stolen from somewhere. Maybe he'd try not to vanquish this one. Chris was looking for something special, something that he deemed would be worthy enough for the Book of Shadows.

Wyatt spotted a pair of lamps and looked them over, they would replace the ones from last week's fiasco. He tended to forget about his baby brother's temper, which had come from their mother. But the fact that he was looking at the old pewter lamps meant that he was trying to prevent having to replace these too, the next time he pissed off his brother. He refused to purchase any other lamps that could be smashed to bits.

Chris looked around the room and over at his brother and rolled his eyes as Wyatt was checking out the lamps. Chris looked at the owner who had his back turned and waved his hand causing a better-looking lamp to move in front of Wyatt. Wyatt's eyes swept to his brother and he glared at Chris as he picked up the lamp. Wyatt looked this one over. Smiling, Chris walked toward the back of the store, leaving Wyatt to browse. Chris had his own browsing to do and his eyes were glancing around. His mouth turned to a thoughtful line when he caught a glimpse of something that caught his eye.

He dropped to his knees to get a closer look. Chris could see the engraved triquetra and traced it with his fingertip. He got up and started pulling other items aside to reveal the most beautiful cherry wood piece. Chris' eyes widened and his smile brightened as he looked at the intricate engraving. It looked almost as old as the Book itself, with Celtic carvings decorating it. Some of the symbols he recognized right off. Others he'd have to look up, but this was it. When he looked over at Wyatt he was trying to get the owner to give them a rather cheap price on the lamps.

"Wy!" Chris yelled and Wyatt and the owner looked over. Chris had that look and Wyatt smiled. _Finally_, maybe now he could convince him into actually eating something.

"Lamps and podium, two-fifty." The shopkeeper interrupted Wyatt's thought of food as his stomach grumbled.

"One hundred." Wyatt sneered.

"Two twenty-five." The shopkeeper countered.

"One hundred." Wyatt said fiercely. Chris smiled and held onto the podium as his brother bargained.

"One seventy-five."

"Ninety." Wyatt looked at him and the man frowned at Wyatt's tactics.

"One fifty and not a dime less." The man crossed his arms and Wyatt repeated the motion looking a hell of a lot more intimidating than the little Indian shopkeeper.

"One hundred and twenty-five. And we promise you'll be our first stop instead of our last from now on." Wyatt pulled out a wad of cash and the man frowned.

"One twenty-five."

Wyatt counted out the cash as Chris carried the podium toward them. Wyatt handed the man the cash and smiled at Chris.

"Yes, you come see Rafi first. Rafi will get you everything you'll ever need."

"You would be Rafi?" Chris asked as he sat the podium down. It was the same general size as the one at the manor, but this one was just perfect.

"Yes, I am Rafi. You come see Rafi for _all_ of your needs." It was the way that he said that which had Chris raising an eyebrow. The little man had a twinkle in his eyes and winked when he noticed Chris looking at him.

"Well Rafi, it was nice doing business with you," Wyatt said.

"You should have been more aggressive, Rafi would have settled for the one hundred."

"I would have paid the one seventy-five." Wyatt gave him that sly toothy grin and Chris smirked as Rafi frowned yet again. Wyatt picked up the podium and nodded at Chris to grab the lamps.

"You come back," the man said, counting out his money.

"We will." Chris said as he followed Wyatt out. They carried their purchases back to where they had parked the car, Chris grinning the entire way. As Wyatt loaded the podium into the back seat Chris gave a mental cheer. "Is it not perfect?"

"Like it was made just for us," Wyatt agreed.

------------------------------------Fade to Black----------------------------------------

Chris stood at the stove in the kitchenette of the apartment that he shared with his older brother. He looked towards the clock on the wall and wrinkled his nose. The green-eyed brunette had an hour and a half before he had to leave for his night class at school and he had a lot to do. Adding a bit of rosemary to the one pot, he stirred the mixture and looked in the cabinet for another ingredient.

Wyatt Halliwell had already had a really bad day. Nothing he did today seemed right. It was like everything he laid a hand on was doomed from the start. His editor at the paper had all but driven him out of the office this morning and had told him not to come back until he got his act together. As he walked into the apartment he shared with his brother he sighed, drawing in a breath of the scents of home cooking. Chris's back was turned, rummaging in one of the cabinets.

Wyatt could always count on his brother to make something that would make him feel better. He moved around the island, reached for the spoon and dipped it into the pot and immediately got his hand slapped.

"Not that one, that's a vanquishing potion." Chris dipped another spoon in a second pot and handed it to his brother.

"You know... the fact that you are making our dinner and a vanquishing potion at the same time worries me." Chris snorted. Wyatt smiled as he looked at his brother. "But this is excellent."

"Thanks," Chris said, taking the spoon back and tossing it in the sink before he busied himself again. It was moments like this that the brunette really resembled their mother.

"Why exactly are you making a vanquishing potion?" Wyatt asked, moving a step back and out of Chris' way.

"Because while you were out a demon shimmered in and tried to take the Book." Chris added something into the potion and smiled happily when a puff of white smoke bubbled from the pot.

"Are you okay?" Wyatt asked instantly. He looked at his brother checking for injuries.

"I'm fine." Chris acted so nonchalant that Wyatt looked at him suspiciously.

"That's the third time in the past two days." Wyatt sighed wearily. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine, mom. But unfortunately the couch and TV didn't fair as well." He nodded toward the couch that had been toasted by a fireball and the television that was shattered on the ground.

"Fix it with magic, like you did right before mom and dad got here."

"Personal gain." Chris said as he put the potion in little vials.

"Personal gain! Chris, we can't keep replacing this stuff. Between your temper and demon attacks..." He sunk onto the stool where Chris had tossed his lab coat. "You don't even have a paying job." He said wearily as Chris pulled his lab coat out from under Wyatt's rear.

"The only reason I used that spell was to prevent our mother from having a heart attack. This place looked like we had invited every demon in the Underworld in," Chris explained as he shook wrinkles out of his lab coat and draped it over another stool. He moved back around to the cabinets, pulling two bowls out and ladling their dinner into them.

"I can't keep replacing furniture every time a demon gets the urge to take the Book." He smiled and looked up at Chris "Or when you mad at me."

"I don't think anyone has that much money." Chris sat a bowl in front of Wyatt. "I have enough going on without having to explain to the Council why I used magic for personal gain."

"Tell them that you are preventing your brother from going broke." Wyatt took a spoonful of soup and smiled happily. "How did you know I needed mom's soup?"

"You felt a little stressed. Then the demon attacked and I put up the barrier so you wouldn't get worried."

"I'm a horrible brother." Wyatt sighed, dipping his spoon into the bowl again. "I didn't even notice you closed yourself off."

"Like I said, you felt stressed." Chris sat down to eat. He draped an arm over his brother's shoulder and gave him a crooked smile. "It's no big deal, Wy. I handled it."

"Next time a demon attacks you call me. I don't want to come home to find you looking like that." He looked over his shoulder at the couch.

"Over-dramatic much? It was one little demon and I took care of it. You don't tell me every time a demon comes a knocking."

"That's different," Wyatt said, fixing Chris with a blue-eyed stare.

"Why? Because you're older by a year and a half?"

"No, because I have the fire power."

"I have potions and a quick tongue. It's not like I'm utterly defenseless. I've been doing this all my life Wyatt, I thought you were there," Chris went back to eating, knowing what words were about to come out of his older brother's mouth before he said them.

"I just don't want you getting hurt," Wyatt said. He knew that Chris wasn't defenseless or weak or anything of the sort, but he did feel rather personally responsible for his younger sibling's well being, "This is the second time in two weeks we've had to replace the television… The point being is that the TV can be replaced. You can't."

"The Book is here now. You said it was no big deal," Chris said with a shrug.

"I was wrong! I had no idea it was going to attract every demon in the underworld," Wyatt exclaimed.

"Mark the day on the calendar, Wyatt Halliwell admits that he's wrong," Chris laughed. Wyatt gave him a light shove that wasn't quite hard enough to knock the younger man off of his barstool.

"Yeah, yeah… I was wrong, you were right," Wyatt muttered. He looked over his shoulder at the demolished furniture and let his eyes drift worriedly towards the closet that they had more or less converted into their 'altar room' for the Book of Shadows. It was still a closet, but now it held the intricately carved podium upon which the revered family tome now resided.

"They can't get into the closet, it's sealed against evil. I made sure of it. Plus, I have a little extra protection for the Book now." Chris smiled devilishly.

"What did you do?" Wyatt asked. He knew that look _and_ that tone.

"Just added an extra little protection for the Book. Hopefully, we won't need it."

Wyatt sniffed. The way his day had been going he wouldn't have bet on that. At least his younger brother's cooking had made up for it. It was almost as good as if their mother had made it herself, but then, Chris had always been the one in the kitchen right by Piper's side whenever he could be. Wyatt had always had more of the knack for fixing things like their handyman father.

They both turned as a demon shimmered in by the closet. Wyatt lifted his hands to blast him but Chris touched his arm and shook his head, grinning. Wyatt lowered his hands as the demon touched the closet door. An electric blast zapped through the horned blue-skinned demon, the door opened and crystals surrounded the demon before the door closed back with a bang.

"The Book caught the demon?" Wyatt asked incredulously. Chris was just grinning because it had actually worked.

"When a demon touches the door, the door zaps them and then the crystals capture them." Chris turned back away from the demon and took a spoonful of soup. "He's all yours."

The sound of an electric pulse was followed by a shrill squeal from the demon. Wyatt smiled and turned back to his dinner, "I'll get him after I eat. I don't want it to get cold."

Chris finished off his soup quickly and stood up. After he had cleaned up after himself he grabbed his lab coat and the messenger bag that he used to carry his text books in. Wyatt watched him, still taking his time with his food. Chris patted his brother on the shoulder, and said, "Have fun, I'm going to try to get to class a little early tonight. Compare some notes with Seung. Try to have a better evening than you did day, okay?"

Wyatt nodded. The demon screamed again in the background as it tried to get out of the cage, "I think I'll go back to the marketplace and replace our couch and TV."

"Don't forget to see Rafi first. We promised," Chris started for the door, "I should be back around nine-thirty. When you're done with our little friend, don't forget to put the crystals back in the closet."

The apartment door shut behind Chris and Wyatt looked over his shoulder towards the demon, smiling at his little brother's ingenuity. "Only you would think of that little brother," he shook his head, chuckling and stood up to get a second helping of the soup.

------------------------------------Fade to Black----------------------------------------

The sun was sinking in the sky and the streetlamps were coming on. The marketplace wasn't nearly as busy as it had been the other afternoon when Wyatt and Chris had found the podium. There were still people milling about, but not nearly as many. Wyatt had his hands in the pockets of his jeans as he walked towards Rafi's Antiques Emporium.

They had promised the little man that they would see him first.

Wyatt heard someone running behind him and turned to look, seeing a teenaged boy running as fast as his legs would carry him. He didn't appear to have anyone following him, but he slammed into Wyatt, shoving the muscular blonde out of his way with surprisingly more strength than Wyatt would have expected from him. It wasn't like the Twice Blessed Witch was a little guy. He stumbled back, hitting the rear fender of a classic car parked in front of one of the shops and stared after the kid as he veered around the corner ahead.

The blonde pushed off from the car and, forgetting temporarily his mission to replace their couch and TV took off after the running kid. Other people in the marketplace didn't seem to even notice the teenaged boy, but they did notice Wyatt running and jumped out of his way. A couple went so far as to shake angry fists at him and shout.

Wyatt chased the boy into an alleyway. "Why do things like this always seem to take place in dark alleys?" he mumbled under his breath.

He could see the kid, who had come to the dead end in the alley. Wyatt slowed at the mouth of the alley. Two dark shadows rippled away from the walls and solidified into large, hulking shapes that were approaching the kid.

"NO! Stay away from me!" the boy screamed, "Stay away!" He pressed himself back against the wall. Terror was etched across the boy's features. For the first time Wyatt noticed that the teen was barefoot and that his clothes looked like something from the early twentieth century.

Whoever the kid was, he was an innocent and he was certain those big black shapes were demonic in origin. Wyatt started forwards, hands raised. "Leave the kid alone!"

The large black shapes ignored him. One of them grabbed the barefoot teenager, lifting his squirming form into the air. Wyatt flicked his wrists at the shape. It turned into smoke, dropping the boy, but the other one grabbed him and turned to look at Wyatt.

The first shape reformed itself, much to the Twice Blessed Witch's surprise. It took hold of the squirming boy and turned to look at Wyatt as well.

"Stay out of this witch. This is not your concern…" the first shape said before both of them smoked into nothing, fading back into the shadows… and taking the innocent with them.

-------------------------------------Commercial Break--------------------------------


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** _strikermac_ and I don't own Chris and Wyatt Halliwell, although we wish we did. We don't own Charmed either. It's such a tragedy, really. I know you guys agree with me, don't you?

**Author's Note:** This is the second episode in our "Destined" series. If you haven't read the Pilot episode, I'd recommend reading that first, but it's not one hundred percent necessary. It's just very helpful for knowing some of the additional characters that are a part of the series. That and I'm hoping if you go back and read that one, you'll write me a nice review. There are also the "Pre-Destined" teenage years stories to read as well if you're just itching for something else to read between updates on this. The order to read them in is in my profile. Mainly it's just a shameless plug to get more reviews.

Someone asked about casting and who I picture playing the roles of the supporting cast members of the series. Ideally I would want to find some 'unknowns' for the roles. But since I can't exactly have an open casting call for a series that doesn't yet exist, I _do _have actors in mind that I would cast in the roles that aren't 'unknowns'. I've got the cast list in my profile for anyone interested in putting a face to a name.

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**Destined: The Charmed Sons**

**Episode 1.2, Marketplace of Souls**

**Chapter Two**

Christopher Halliwell fumbled with his keys as he got to the door that led into the apartment he shared with Wyatt. He still had his white lab coat on and his I.D. hanging from a lanyard around his neck. A yawn caused his jaws to creak as he put the key in the lock and turned it, shifting his bag on his shoulder as he walked inside. He had said he would be home at nine-thirty. It was actually closer to ten-thirty, since some of his classmates had insisted on going to the little diner down the street from campus.

They had wheedled Chris into going since he hadn't been out with them in a while, even though he had told them he'd already eaten. The food wasn't the point, it was more for the social interaction with his peers. Chris and Wyatt both knew their lives weren't normal, they never had been and never would be. It was something both of them had accepted when they were kids. But brief moments when Chris could have the opportunity to have those normal experiences were still nice contrasts to his real life. It was more like those 'normal' moments were the ones that were so abnormal. Chris wouldn't have known what to do without magic.

Even as stressful and hectic as it sometimes made things, Chris wouldn't have wanted to live life without magic. His mother may have always wanted a normal life, but a life immersed in magic _was_ normal for witches. Even more so for witches with the last name of Halliwell. Chris closed the door behind him and raised his eyebrows when he saw his brother.

Wyatt was seated on the floor in front of the coffee table. There was a map of Boston spread out in front of him and the blonde had a wild look in his eyes. Chris's brow knotted in concern and he walked over, spying the scrying crystal that Wyatt had spinning over the map. The look in in Wyatt's eyes worried Chris, "Wy?"

"I lost an innocent." The four words that left the Twice Blessed Witch's mouth sounded so heavy. As heavy as that huge burden that was obviously hanging on Wyatt's shoulders just then.

"What? What did I miss?" Chris asked. He laid his bag down and knelt next to his brother on the floor.

Wyatt didn't look at him; he was focused on the map, waiting for the crystal to drop. He did at least explain to his brother why what he was doing was so gravely important, "I was at the marketplace and there was this kid… Demons took him and I have to find him."

"What are you scrying for?" Chris asked, frowning.

"Demons, or evil, or something," Wyatt answered absently.

"Wy, you scan for evil and we'll be looking all over the city," Chris said calmly. One of them needed to be calm and rational. It certainly wasn't Wyatt just then. The younger witch reached over to his brother. Chris took the chain out his hand, stopping Wyatt. Wyatt stared at him with a haunted look in his eyes. Chris patted his shoulder and got up. He walked over to the closet and opened the Book. "What kind of demon was it?"

"Ah... I don't know," Wyatt said glumly. He stayed sitting on the floor in front of the coffee table, staring at the map. "I shouldn't have gone there today. It's my fault."

"Stop being so over-dramatic. You've been having a bad day, but this isn't your fault. You were there for a reason and if you hadn't gone you wouldn't have even known there was an innocent that needed saving. Now get up, and come look through the Book, find the demon then we'll go get your innocent," Chris said calmly.

His older brother sighed and pushed himself up, trudging over to the closet to join Chris in front of the Book of Shadows. Wyatt held his hand over the Book and began telekinetically flipping through the pages in search of the shadowy-like demons that had taken the boy.

Chris looked at Wyatt with a worried eye. He didn't like seeing Wyatt like this, "We can't save them all Wy. How many times have you said that to me?"

"I know. It's just, this was so..."

"Look through the Book," Chris said gently, "I'm going to grab a shower and get ready to do some demon hunting, okay?"

"Sure," Wyatt mumbled, still looking at the pages.

Chris frowned in concern as he stepped out of the closet, shrugging himself out of his lab coat as he headed towards the bathroom.

------------------------------------Fade to Black----------------------------------------

Chris shrugged on a long sleeved T-shirt and came out of his bedroom. He stopped in the doorway when he saw his brother pacing the room. The look on his face worried Chris to no end. They had been through and seen a lot in their years as witches, but he had never seen this side of Wyatt Matthew Halliwell.

"Took you long enough." Wyatt mumbled as he grabbed his jacket.

"Did you find them?" Chris went to look at the Book and Wyatt glared.

"We don't have time for you to do your normal research on the subject. If we don't get there soon that innocent will die. I know you don't care, but..."

Chris rounded on Wyatt, green eyes flashing, "Who the _hell_ do you think you are? Of _course_ I care. But I'd prefer not walking into a situation blind. And if you were thinking clearly you'd be right with me. We are not going to do that innocent any good if we walk in and get ourselves killed. Now sit down, and let me check these guys out."

Chris shook his head and turned his back to Wyatt and resumed walking towards the closet. Wyatt scowled and threw a magazine across the room. Its pages flapped as it sailed through the air and smacked into the wall. Chris just looked at it, then stared at Wyatt. The blonde stormed across the room and sat heavily onto the couch. The already damaged piece of furniture broke in half depositing the Twice Blessed Witch onto the floor.

Wyatt got up and walked into his bedroom slamming the door behind him. Chris flinched as the impact of the door made the walls rattle. His brother was within an inch of losing it. Chris looked from the broken furniture to Wyatt's door and back to the room, worry lines creasing his youthful face.

"May the object of objection become but a dream as I cause the scene to be unseen." The singed stuffing from the couch lifted back into the piece of furniture as it mended itself back together magically. It no longer looked like it had met an early death via demon fireball and his frustrated big brother. The TV righted itself; glass from the broken screen repaired itself magically just as the couch did. Chris stood still, watching the repairs take place.

"Hey, you don't want the Twice-Blessed Witch in the psych ward do you?" Chris asked, looking up at the ceiling. It was like he could just hear them complaining Up There about the personal gain taking place. He argued, "It's not personal gain if I'm saving him from going completely crazy."

Wyatt had already had a bad enough day without this added stress. He really hadn't needed to lose an innocent too. The self-blame and building frustration radiating through their empathic link caused Chris to yet again frown in worry at Wyatt's now closed door. Chris scrubbed his fingers through his shower damp hair and with a sigh, walked to the closet where their podium was to get a look at the Book. He stopped when he saw the entry on the page that it was opened to. SOUL COLLECTORS.

A shiver ran down Chris' back like cold fingers tracing his spine.

This was not going to be good.

------------------------------------Fade to Black----------------------------------------

Chris Halliwell looked around the darkened streets as he walked away from their parked car. It was a classic 2007 Mustang, which was just a nice way of saying that the thing was almost twenty years old and Wyatt had gotten a good price on it as a 'fixer upper'. The new royal blue paint job did a lot for it aesthetically, but fuel-efficient it was not. Wyatt hit the button on the car remote, locking it, and started down the street to the market.

Chris followed. The emptiness and quiet was a stark contrast to the previous day's trek that they had made, where the streets were packed. Eleven o'clock at night wasn't exactly prime shopping time. There were security lights on in some of the shops, just to let any patrol cars that made rounds through the area be able to see inside to ensure that all was still well. The street lamps provided just enough light on the sidewalks for safety.

Wyatt was walking ahead, with his hands jammed into the pockets of his jacket. Since they left the apartment Chris' big brother had been quiet. Almost too quiet. Chris stopped in front of Rafi's shop and looked at Wyatt. Now it was Chris's turn to shove his hands guiltily into his pockets.

"Listen, I'm sorry I yelled earlier, don't be mad at me." Chris said looking at the toes of his sneakers.

Wyatt Halliwell stopped dead and turned around to look at his little brother with a guilty stare. The older witch felt like scum for yelling at _him_ and what does Chris do? Chris apologizes for defending himself. Wyatt shamefully shook his head, "You're sorry? Chris. I know I shouldn't have taken my frustration out on you, it's just that…"

"That we're brothers and you know that I won't hold much of a grudge," He looked up, meeting Wyatt's gaze. Chris smiled but worry still showed in his green eyes.

"I'm sorry I said that you don't care," Wyatt apologized.

Chris shrugged, "No big deal."

Chris might have said it wasn't a big deal, but Wyatt knew it had still hurt the brunette's feelings. Yet another tick mark on the things he had managed to screw up today. He should never have gotten out of bed this morning. Wyatt sighed and pushed his fingers through his blonde hair, "And thanks for fixing the couch and TV. I know it was against your better judgment."

"It was fix that stuff or have to visit you in the psych ward. I figured that wasn't really personal gain," Chris said with a smile as he walked over and patted Wyatt's shoulder comfortingly, "You might look kind of cute in a straight jacket though."

"Funny." Wyatt said, "Forgive me?"

"Yeah, I guess so, but only if I'm forgiven too."

Wyatt gave Chris a weak smile. It was an effort for him to even manage that much as he said, "I'll think about it."

"Guess that'll have to do," Chris said.

Wyatt led Chris along the street and around the corner into the alley, gesturing towards it. Chris stepped forwards into the alley and Wyatt followed, "It was here that they appeared and took the innocent."

"Alright, at least we have a starting point," Chris said walking along the wall and looking along the ground at the shadows. None of them seemed out of the ordinary, but he could just feel the hairs on the back of his neck rising. The anxiety coming through the link from Wyatt wasn't helping any. Chris turned around and looked at him, "Relax Wy, we'll find out what is going on."

Wyatt had that same look back in his eyes again that had been there when Chris had first walked into the apartment this evening. The blonde shook his head, "I shouldn't have come."

"What?" Chris asked, turning to look at him, "Don't be ridiculous… we're going to do this together and save your innocent."

"I shouldn't have come," Wyatt repeated. He took a step backwards, causing his back to bump up against the brick façade of the building. The blonde witch gasped and went rigid as he felt his consciousness being pulled forward through time and into a Future Projection. This was only the third time that Wyatt had actually experienced the new advancement of his Premonition ability and the impact of it was just as unnervingly real as those first two times.

_Chris turned around and put his hands on his hips, "Wyatt, you're being more melodramatic than D.J. and that's saying something. What's your deal? So you had a bad day. Get a grip. It happens. Now take a deep breath, pull yourself together, and help me find some clues to get your innocent back."_

_Wyatt looked at Chris as two dark, shadowy shapes melted out from the wall behind the brunette. His blue eyes went wide, and he opened his mouth to shout a warning._

"_Channel all that anxiety of yours into helping, okay?" Chris asked, "Wy?"_

_Chris started to take a step towards Wyatt, but one of the shadowy shapes grabbed the younger Halliwell and covered his mouth with a blackened hand. Chris was enveloped in shadow and pulled back towards the wall._

_A flash of light ended Wyatt's vision._

"Wy?" Chris asked, turning to look at Wyatt over his shoulder. The brunette frowned when he saw how his brother was now sagged back against the wall, leaning against it. Chris sighed and bent to look back at the ground along the base of the wall, taking a few steps further away from his brother.

Wyatt couldn't answer right away, his heart was pounding in his chest. His vision was still clearing as he leaned against the wall that was holding him up. He didn't particularly like the way this new power left him feeling afterwards. But more, he didn't like how very real it was. "We need to leave this alley…" Wyatt said.

Chris sighed and turned around to look at Wyatt, placing his hands on his hips. "Wyatt you're being more melodramatic than D.J. and that's saying something. What's your deal? So you had a bad day. Get a grip. It happens. Now take a deep breath, pull yourself together, and help me find some clues to get your innocent back."

Wyatt's eyes widened. He looked towards his brother as the Future Projection started playing out right in front of him. The two dark, shadowy shapes from earlier melted out from the wall behind Chris. His heart beat faster and Wyatt opened his mouth to shout a warning.

"Channel all that anxiety of yours into helping, okay?" Chris asked, "Wy?"

Chris's brow knitted down and he started to take a step towards his brother in concern. A dark form wrapped around his mouth from behind, grabbing hold of him before he could finish stepping forwards. Chris's green eyes widened as the frigid cold enveloped him. He couldn't breathe! _Wyatt!!_ The mental scream and flood of panic through their empathic link cut off abruptly, silenced. Wyatt watched in horror as his brother disappeared and was swallowed into the blackened void of the first figure.

"NO!!!" Wyatt shouted.

The second shadow looked towards Wyatt, its charcoal eyes locking upon his face, "I told you it was none of your concern witch, but thank you for not listening…"

Both shapes smoked back into the darkness of the alley, melting back into the wall. Chris's slender body dropped to the ground at the base of the wall the two demons had just returned to. His eyes were closed and his face pale as his head lolled lifelessly to one side. Wyatt's heart clenched in his chest as he raced forward to drop on his knees next to his brother. He turned him over onto his back.

"Chris? _Chris?!_" Wyatt shouted, his hands frantically moving over his little brother's still form. He placed his fingers to Chris's neck checking for a pulse as his own thundered like a roar in his ears. Chris's skin was cold, as if he had been immersed in ice water, but what hit Wyatt hardest was that he simply couldn't sense him any more. It was like a hollow abyss of silence. "…Chris…"

He sank back onto his heels with his hands shaking as he pulled his unresponsive brother against his chest, numb. He stared at the wall that the demons had vanished into as his blue eyes shined with unshed tears. This was all his fault.

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	4. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** _strikermac_ and I don't own Chris and Wyatt Halliwell, although we wish we did. We don't own Charmed either. It's such a tragedy, really. I know you guys agree with me, don't you?

**Author's Note:** Did we keep you in suspense long enough? Now, where were we? Oh, that's right… Wyatt's had a horribly stressful day, he lost an innocent, and when we last left our two favorite brothers… it just a million times worse. We won't keep you hanging any longer.

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**Destined: The Charmed Sons**

**Episode 1.2, Marketplace of Souls**

**Chapter Three**

Quiet enough to hear a pin drop, the saying goes. There was no one in the third floor hallway of the Avalon Apartments. It was so silent that someone could have dropped a pin and the sound that the tiny piece of metal would have made upon the ground would have sounded like a thunderous boom. The air in front of Apartment 3A rippled forming into a tall willowy brunette woman who looked both directions down the hall before she knocked upon the door.

Of course, there was no answer from the brother's apartment. Wyatt and Chris weren't there. The woman smiled, but knocked again just to be certain. If they were home, they wouldn't be expecting a demon to actually _knock_ on the door.

"They're not in right now," Samara said as she finished climbing the stairs onto the third floor landing to see the woman standing in front of the Halliwell's apartment.

"Oh?" the brunette asked, turning around.

Samara hefted her bags of groceries as she stood there talking to the woman, "No, they left a good hour ago. Are you a friend of theirs?"

The woman looked from the doorknob to the honey-eyed woman holding her groceries and smiled. The lie rolled off of her tongue like silk, "Yes. They weren't expecting me though, so it's not surprising that they aren't here."

"If you want to, you can come stay in my apartment until they get back. It's right next door," Samara nodded to her door, which she actually walked to and pulled her keys out. Juggling her groceries she unlocked it.

"That's very kind of you to offer, but I'll just let myself in their place and wait for them there," she watched the Halliwell's neighbor. When Samara's head was turned, she touched the doorknob and a blue flash went through it. A 'click' sounded from the other side as the lock was turned inside.

Samara raised an eyebrow at the brunette, "You have a key to their place?"

The woman's eyes narrowed for a fraction of a second and she looked towards Samara, keeping a sweet smile, "Wyatt will be surprised to see me." Behind her back she conjured an athame into her hands, in case this woman decided to keep asking her questions. She was here for two things, to dispose of the Halliwell brothers and to get the Book of Shadows. She didn't have time for nosy neighbors.

The sandy-haired woman smiled, "I'm sure he will."

The female demon watched Samara as the woman went into her apartment with her groceries and the door shut. The athame behind her back vanished and she turned the knob, stepping into Wyatt and Chris's apartment to wait for them.

------------------------------------Fade to Black----------------------------------------

Wyatt Halliwell held his trembling hands over the inert form of his younger brother. He didn't want to accept what had happened. He didn't want to accept the truth because doing that meant he would have to accept that Chris was dead. Chris couldn't be dead. There had to be something he could do. He was the Twice Blessed Witch. There had to be _something_. Wyatt's baby brother simply could not be dead. The lifeless body that Wyatt was leaned over helplessly trying to heal said otherwise.

The gaping, vacant hole in Wyatt's heart said the same thing, as did the deathly silence of their empathic link. Over the years Wyatt had come to rely on that presence, even in the times that the supernatural connection bordered on invasive and annoying. It was a sort of comfort and now it was gone. This wasn't the muted sense of his younger sibling putting up a mental block to keep him out, or even the jarring sensation of injury or unconsciousness. This… this was like having a part of his heart ripped out of his chest. Wyatt _knew_ the truth, but he was in denial.

He had held his brother at first and then had blasted at the wall that the Soul Collectors had disappeared into. Chunks of the brick were chipped away now, but the damn demons hadn't come back out no matter how much he had screamed. Now he had dropped back to the ground next to Chris' corpse, in part because he had broken down to the point that his emotions had caused that particular power to stop working, and in part because he desperately wanted to heal him and bring him back.

Silent tears trailed down Wyatt's cheeks and he kept staring at where his hands hovered over his brother's unmoving chest, waiting for a golden glow to appear. He didn't know how long he had been sitting there like that. He didn't care. Nothing else mattered. He felt numb all over. _Please… please… come on Chris… come on… something… do something… Let me heal him. Chris…_ A sob rose in Wyatt's throat and choked its way out. He closed his eyes and bowed his head forwards, but kept his hands stretched out. "Heal Damnit…"

"Whitelighters cannot heal the dead."

Wyatt's head whipped up and he stared towards the source of the voice. His hands shook as he clenched them into fists. "You…" Wyatt's emotion strained voice said in surprise.

"Your brother is dead," the little Indian man observed, "Love is a strong thing, but even that cannot bring someone back if it is their time to go. Whitelighters cannot heal the dead."

"How do _you_ know about Whitelighters?" Wyatt asked, raising his hands, prepared to blast the man.

"Rafi knows many things. Rafi knew who you were when you came in the other day," the little man said.

Suspicion and warning rang loud in Wyatt's head. A part of him didn't care. He might as well be dead too. Another part reacted, thinking the little man was somehow a part of this in a conspiracy. Wyatt's teary blue eyes narrowed and he flicked his hands out, but nothing happened.

"Rafi knows a witch's powers are tied to their emotions. Yours are not working so well right now. Lucky thing for Rafi, even the Twice Blessed Wyatt Halliwell has his weaknesses," the little Indian shopkeeper folded his hands in front of him.

"What do you want?" Wyatt asked. He drew a shaky breath that burned in his chest and lowered his hands back to hold onto his brother, protectively.

"What more could Rafi do?" the man asked, nodding his head towards Chris, "Your brother is already dead. Rafi came to offer his assistance."

"Assistance?"

"Yes. Rafi knows a way for you to get your brother back."

That had Wyatt's attention. His heart, that he had been sure had stopped beating at some point, began hammering quickly again.

The shopkeeper moved closer to Wyatt and crouched down, his hands clasped. The man nodded towards the wall where Wyatt had blasted and had tried to get through to the demons that had stolen his brother from him. "The Soul Collectors, yes? Rafi said love cannot bring someone back if it is their time to go, but it is not your brother's time. No living good being may cross the threshold to their domain."

"I'm listening…" Wyatt said softly. He didn't _trust_ the man, but if there was a way, even some slim possibility of saving his brother…

"The Soul Collectors," Rafi said, "They have been here for a long time. Longer even than Rafi. Rafi has lost many good customers to them."

Patience had never been Wyatt's strong suit and after the day he'd had --not to mention the fact that his little brother was dead-- the young man didn't have any left waiting for the shopkeeper to get to his point. "How is this going to help get Chris back?"

The little man reached into his robes and pulled out a tiny vial. He flashed Wyatt a toothy grin and lifted the apothecary jar up, holding it between his thumb and index finger. Wyatt didn't like the smile, but his blue eyes focused upon the jar and the red liquid it contained.

"Rafi has but one question for you. Is the Twice Blessed Witch willing to die for his little brother?"

------------------------------------Fade to Black----------------------------------------

The phone startled D.J. Anderson out of a sound sleep. He had been watching Titanic when he had fallen asleep on the couch. Now there was just the menu screen for the DVD producing a soft glow into the room. D.J. adjusted his glasses and stumbled over to the phone, trying to get to it before it woke his father sleeping in the other room of their Manhattan apartment.

"Hello?" D.J. said as he ran his fingers through his unruly hair. He waited and could only hear ragged, uneven breathing and silence from the other end. A frown tugged his lips downwards as he looked towards the clock. It was almost midnight. If this was some sort of prank he wasn't going to be very happy. He had an eight o'clock class in the morning and he'd been running stage combat drills almost all day with more to follow in the morning. "Hello?" he repeated, stifling a yawn.

"Dee, I need you." The voice on the other end of the phone sounded so shallow and helpless that D.J. almost didn't realize who it was.

"Wy?" D.J. asked as his exhaustion vanished like he'd been doused with cold water. Something was definitely wrong and it caused his heart to start racing. "Wy, is that you?"

"I need you," Wyatt managed, though his voice cracked with emotion, "Chr-Chr-Chris is dead. I need you."

"What? Dead? Explain dead. Chris can't be dead," D.J. said, clutching the phone.

Wyatt had been crying, D.J. could hear it in his voice, he was probably crying now… he sounded so completely devastated. A block of ice had found its way into D.J.'s stomach. D.J. swallowed, listening to the heartbreaking sounds coming over the line. D.J. gripped the phone tightly. Maybe he had heard wrong. He had to have heard wrong. This was some kind of mistake.

"He…" Wyatt choked out, "…he's dead, they… they… he's gone Dee…"

D.J. winced. His friend could barely talk his voice sounded so shallow and quivery. D.J. moistened his lips, unsure of what to say. Chris was dead? The thought kept running through his mind and kept returning a 'does not compute' message. He was stunned beyond words, which for D.J. was a rare thing. D.J. almost always had words for any given situation. The death of one of his two best friends must not have made it onto the list. Wyatt was talking again.

"I… I have to… have to go get his soul back. I need you."

D.J. blew out a hard breath. Wyatt sounded so utterly lost, which made complete sense if Chris was... D.J. didn't want to believe it. Chris was dead? How? A million questions raced through his mind and he kept thinking it had to be some kind of mistake. For Wyatt's sake he hoped that it was. But the way Wyatt sounded made him terrified that it might actually be true. He just hoped that Wyatt didn't…

D.J. found his voice and spoke his thought aloud, "Okay, I'm coming. Don't do anything until I get there. Promise me."

"Hurry, I have to save him. You have to help me save my brother."

"I'll be right there T.B.," D.J. assured him.

D.J. hung up the phone and realized his hands were shaking. He stared at them in the darkened living room of the apartment he shared with his father. Chris was dead? Wyatt had to get his soul? This did not sound like he was going to like this at all. D.J. looked towards the closed door of his father's room and closed his eyes, shimmering to Boston and focusing on Wyatt.

------------------------------------Fade to Black----------------------------------------

D.J., still slightly in shock over the startling phone call he had just received, shimmered in front of his best friend moments later. Wyatt was shaking, his face was blotchy from where he had been crying and more tears that were as of yet unshed made his eyes shine. D.J. followed Wyatt's line of sight to see his other best friend lying stretched out on the ground by the brick wall. There were chunks blasted out of the wall, but D.J. didn't notice them, his eyes were on Chris.

The half-manticore felt like someone had just punched him in the stomach and taken all the air from his lungs when he saw the body. He could only imagine what Wyatt was feeling right now.

"W…what happened?" D.J. asked as knelt beside Chris. Tears fell down his cheeks and he touched the young witchlighter's colorless face, unnerved by how cold Chris felt. D.J.'s hands shook and he looked up towards Wyatt. Chris couldn't be dead. This was an illusion, it had to be some sort of trick.

"Soul Collectors stole his soul. I need to save him, I can still save him," Wyatt said, his voice still sounded broken and hollow. But D.J. detected the hint of determination in it too.

"How?" D.J. asked. Soul Collectors? That didn't sound good to D.J. either.

"Rafi says all I have to do is go through the wall and I should still be able to save him," Wyatt said.

"Who is Rafi?" D.J. questioned.

"I am Rafi," the little Indian man that D.J. hadn't noticed until he spoke said.

D.J. looked at him and then frowned with disgust. The man was one of those Shopkeepers… with a capital 'S'. He couldn't be trusted. They weren't human, but they weren't exactly demons either. They were neutral beings. They had no loyalties to good or evil, and his best friend was going to trust this guy? D.J. shook his head. He hadn't dealt with this _particular_ Shopkeeper before, but he had dealt with plenty of 'Rafi's' kind before.

"It's not a good idea to trust a Shopkeeper, Wy," D.J. cautioned, looking at the little man distrustfully. He'd been cheated more than once by them. None of them were any better than any of the others in his experience.

"Do you have a better idea?" Wyatt asked, his tone wavering. The blonde's jaw tightened and he looked at his brother.

D.J. followed Wyatt's gaze to look at Chris' unmoving form again and reluctantly shook his head. No, he didn't have any ideas. He wished that he did. He sincerely wished that he did. He swiped at the moisture on his cheeks and looked at Wyatt, waiting to hear what the Shopkeeper had in mind. His eyes settled on the little jar that his friend was holding that contained a crimson liquid.

"All I have to do is drink this potion," Wyatt said, "and I'll die and my soul will be able to go through the wall."

"Wait, all you have to do is _what?"_ The shaggy-haired man wasn't sure what he had been expecting Wyatt to say, but not in a million years had he expected that. His eyes nearly bugged out of his skull and he began shaking his head even as he shouted, "What?!!! Have you _lost_ your mind?! You're going to commit magical suicide?! No. No, Wyatt… I can't let you do it."

Wyatt's jaw tightened and he wrapped his hand around the vial, "I don't have a choice Dee."

"Y--you don't have a choice?!" D.J. exclaimed, "Wyatt! Are you listening to yourself? You're talking about killing yourself. What part of that do you think is a good idea? Did you stop to think that might be what this--this---this _Rafi_ wants you to do? That he wants you dead?! There has to be some other way to go about this that doesn't involve you dying too! Stop and think for a second! I know thinking has always been more Chris's thing than--"

"CHRIS IS DEAD D.J.!" Wyatt snapped harshly. The lamp hanging over the mouth of alley popped, the bulb exploding.

D.J. flinched back from Wyatt, his eyes wide as he looked back to the motionless brunette. One of his best friends was dead and the other one wanted to kill himself. D.J.'s green eyes went towards the Shopkeeper, who was standing back looking completely calm, but there was a thin smile on the man's face. D.J. shook his head, and looked towards Wyatt. He didn't like this. He didn't like this at all.

"I _don't_ have a choice Dee," Wyatt said in a softer voice. The tears were gleaming in his eyes again, "Just trust me. I don't care if you trust Rafi, but trust _me_. Listen… when I bring Chris' soul out with mine, all you have to do is read this spell."

D.J. took the piece of paper Wyatt was holding towards him with a shaking hand. "I… I'm not a witch Wy… I… spells… I…"

"You're the only one I have to do this for us Dee. Please. I can't lose my brother. I just can't…" the tears that were in Wyatt's eyes rolled down his cheeks.

Looking at his best friend, D.J. nodded. He would have agreed to do anything at that moment. "Okay. But I swear if this guy betrays you, I'm going to kill him." D.J. sent the man a warning glance. "I'm telling you, they don't make it buddy and neither do you."

"Just watch our bodies," Wyatt instructed, "If someone happens by, shimmer us to the apartment."

"Will do. Be careful T.B." _Be careful_. D.J. winced inwardly as soon as the words were out of his mouth. How the hell was Wyatt supposed to 'be careful' when he was about to down some sort of magical killer cocktail?

Wyatt sat beside his brother. He brushed some of Chris' hair away from his forehead and blew out a breath. He popped the top from the jar and put it to his lips, swallowing the liquid down. Rafi's question: _Is the Twice Blessed Witch willing to die for his brother? _Wyatt's answer was yes. Wyatt's blue eyes went unfocussed and D.J. watched as the blonde lay down, his eyelids closing. Seconds later his soul floated from his body and glanced at D.J. then at his and his baby brother's bodies and disappeared behind the wall.

"I swear he and his brother don't come out from that wall and you'll wish you were dead." D.J. promised the Shopkeeper as he sat down by his best friends and held the paper tightly in his shaking hands.

-------------------------------------Commercial Break--------------------------------

**Author's Note**: Now, I know you want to write a review and inspire us to give you the next chapter very quickly, don't you? Yes. Yes you do. Nod your head. Now, click the little button at the bottom and tell us how much you want us to continue!


	5. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** _strikermac_ and I don't own Chris and Wyatt Halliwell, although we wish we did. We don't own Charmed either. It's such a tragedy, really. I know you guys agree with me, don't you?

**Author's Note:** Sorry for the delay ya'll. It's been a busy couple of days, but I hope that you'll find this chapter worth it! Someone asked if the demon entering the boys apartment was Bianca… no. I don't think Bianca could ever be described as 'willowy', but interesting guess. She doesn't actually have a name right now. The next couple of chapters may be a bit more spaced out due to the fact that I'm preparing a bunch of my paintings for a gallery showing. Don't worry, I'll still try to find some time to work on both the spin-off and the prequels with _strikermac_, but I have to prioritize. Still, you can give well wishes for a successful show and give us encouragements about the fics in the mean time!

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**Destined: The Charmed Sons**

**Episode 1.2, Marketplace of Souls**

**Chapter Four**

Wyatt's soul started through the wall, taking one last glance at the two bodies on the ground. As he walked beyond the wall it got hazy and then it cleared up. He looked at his hand and realized that he was no longer transparent either. It was like he had walked through the wall a ghost and come out on the other side corporal. Which, the 'other side' of the wall just put him right back into the same alley. Only now there was light and there were no signs of his body, Chris's body, D.J. or Rafi anywhere around. Wyatt's eyes narrowed and he started towards the mouth of the alley.

He pressed himself back against the wall as a pair of Scabber demons walked past the mouth of the alley and continued on their way. Proceeding with a bit more caution, he looked out. The Marketplace looked drastically different. Much older and the signs on the shops had peculiar names. There was moaning coming from one of them across the street. He tugged at his shirt and started purposefully towards it, his emotions clouding his better judgment. The closer he got to the storefront though, the better he could hear a sound that was music to his ears. It was his brother's voice.

There was a foggy mist at the entrance into the shop and Wyatt eyed it before he walked through it. There wasn't anyone in the front room, but chains hung along the walls of varying fashion and there were cages on display as well. Wyatt moistened his lips, then ducked around behind a pair of saloon style doors into the back room. There was his brother and several other young souls in cages that were like small jail cells.

"Chris!" Wyatt ran over to the cage and touched the bars and it sent a current through him. "Damn it."

"Wy, you okay? How did you get here?" Chris knelt by the bars looking at his brother who now sat on the floor beside the cage. Chris frowned, "The Book of Shadows entry said that…"

"Potion," Wyatt said, trying to avoid Chris coming to the conclusion of what Wyatt had actually done. Tears shone in Wyatt's eyes as he looked at his brother trapped behind the bars, "Are you okay?"

"You mean aside from having my soul stolen from my body? Doing pretty good." Chris smiled nervously as he looked around. He nodded towards the barefoot teen in the cell next to him. "I found your innocent, this is Toby. Toby it seems has been running from these Soul Collectors for about a hundred years or so. Kinda crappy way to spend your after life if you ask me."

"Why did they take you Chris?" Wyatt asked.

"I didn't exactly get a chance to sit down and ask them. But the entry in the Book listed a couple of different types of Collectors. I guess you noticed the nice little Market outside with all the different storefronts. The Soul Collectors that you ran across? They aren't the only kind out there, there are other Collectors selling 'black market' items to the demons. These guys just happen to be in the business of souls. Their particular entry said they prefer to take those who have a pure and noble heart. Better profit I guess."

"Wait!" Wyatt exclaimed, "You read _that_ in the Book and didn't bother to mention that to me?"

Chris rolled his eyes, "I'm not exactly the ideal candidate, Wy."

"Wrong, you are the perfect candidate for them. Damn it Chris!" Wyatt groaned and looked away. A pure noble heart? Wyatt wanted to reach through the bars and smack his brother in the back of the head. A conversation from almost five years ago came to Wyatt's mind. '_He must be a powerful, good and noble witch. Dreamwalkers must have a pure, loyal heart.' 'He has his moments.' _That was why his little brother was given such a rare power. Wyatt rubbed his hand over his face and mumbled, "I never would have brought you here."

"Well, we can't go back in time, so let's find out how to get the heck out of here," Chris said, "They could be back any minute. We don't have time for you to start blaming yourself or your crappy day for this."

"When we get out of here, I'm going to kill you," Wyatt growled.

"Noted. Now can you get me out of this cage?"

Wyatt eyed the bars of the cages and didn't see any sort of opening. He crossed his arms over his chest. "Sure, any idea how I'm going to do that?"

------------------------------------Fade to Black----------------------------------------

D.J. was silent as he sat staring at the paper he held in his hand. How the hell was he supposed to make a spell work? He wasn't a witch. He felt sick. His two best friends were on the ground in front of him dead and here he was holding life in his hands. To hope that Wyatt knew what he was doing was almost too much to ask for. Even under the best circumstances Wyatt didn't always think things through before he jumped into a plan. That was why D.J. was a firm believer that the brothers worked best together. He was always reminding them of that fact. Of course, Chris hadn't exactly been capable of stopping Wyatt from…

The half-manticore couldn't count the number of times he'd had to remind Chris that he and Wyatt worked best as a team. The younger brother wanted to get out of Wyatt's shadow and prove that he could do things on his own even at the risk of his life. He had to remind Wyatt because, well, Wyatt would rather keep his little brother out of danger, _preventing_ him from risking his life and just take care of things himself because he had 'the fire power'. D.J. supposed that was his role on the 'team'… reminding the Halliwell brothers why they needed one another. The brawns without the brains were just reckless muscle, and the brains without the muscle to back them up didn't do a whole lot of good either.

D.J. looked at the paper in his hands again. He _hoped_ Wyatt had known what he was doing, but there was the fact that Wyatt had just killed himself with a potion to try to bring his brother's soul back. Chris was dead and now so was Wyatt. There was nothing in that at all that could be deemed rational behavior. It didn't even come close.

What only made the situation worse was that now D.J. was sitting in this dark alley with that creepy little Shopkeeper. The shaggy-haired man lifted his eyes towards Rafi and grimaced. The guy was sitting on his heels, casually trimming his nails with a dagger. How the hell could Wyatt trust that guy? Wyatt probably didn't, but had seen him as his only hope of getting Chris back. D.J.'s grimace turned into a scowl.

Rafi lifted his eyes, realizing he was being stared at and flashed D.J. a snide smile. His dagger paused and he brushed his nails off on his robe.

"Trust he has in you. Hope you don't break that trust," Rafi said.

The comment sent the hairs on D.J.'s neck standing on end, "Stay out of my business."

"Rafi worries about his customers. Demons are not often friends with witchlighters," the little man said, tucking his dagger away.

"Listen to me buddy, you don't know anything about me or about them. So shut up," D.J. said vehemently.

Rafi sniffed at him, leaning a bit closer for a second before he settled back onto his heels, "Manticore, yes? Dangerous. A half-manticore in the alleys of the marketplace at night. A good friend you must be. For your life is in danger. You should go."

"I'm not leaving them," D.J. said, "No matter how many Manticores come."

"Brave," Rafi mused, his long fingers stroking his chin, "Yes, this is why you are friends with the Twice-Blessed witch and his brother."

"I said shut up." D.J. looked around with a new worry to think about. Now he had to be concerned with the possibility of Manticores showing up. He laid a hand on Chris' shoulder and one on Wyatt's just in case, ignoring the toothy smile of the Shopkeeper.

------------------------------------Fade to Black----------------------------------------

"I'm getting you out of here," Wyatt said, flicking his hands at the bars. He was surprised when nothing happened. "Uh…"

Chris stood up and looked at his brother, "What the matter?"

Wyatt caught his lower lip between his teeth. He hadn't exactly thought about the fact that being dead would, well, make him powerless. "Must be a side effect of the potion. Plan B."

"Plan B? What's Plan B?" Chris asked, he sucked in a breath and his eyes shot towards the doors that lead to the back room. He hissed quietly at Wyatt, "Someone's coming."

Wyatt cursed under his breath and quickly ducked behind some baskets. He wouldn't do Chris any good if he got himself caught. Crouching low, Wyatt started to hold his breath until he reminded himself that he couldn't breathe. It was more the gesture of holding his breath though, so he watched the beings enter the room and smile evilly at his brother. The Soul Collectors opened the cage, a complex series of motions and pressures against the bars caused the doors to swing open. One of the pair reached in and grabbed Chris by the hair, dragging him out.

"Leave him alone, he just got here!" Toby yelled at them, trying to distract them.

"Shut up. You'll get your turn. Someone is very interested in your cellmate. Yes, _very_ interested." The being ran a long fingernail along Chris' cheek. Chris didn't even flinch, though he wanted to. They pulled him out of the room.

Wyatt looked in horror as the Soul Collector dragged Chris out of his sight. He had no powers to stop them. If his powers had been working when it grabbed Chris by the hair, half the place would have exploded in flames. There wasn't even the empathic link to tell him whether Chris was okay or not. Wyatt was getting ready to find out where they took his brother when he heard them coming back.

They dragged Chris back moments later. Aside from looking like he wanted to throw up, the younger Halliwell appeared unharmed as they threw him roughly back into the cage. He tumbled across the ground and pushed himself up, staring towards the two beings.

"Ah, you are going to make me very rich. Yes, very rich indeed." The Soul Collector hissed, sealing Chris' cage back. The being walked back up front and closed the door to the office. There was the sound of a discussion of prices from behind the door.

"Chris?" Wyatt whispered, slipping back out and over to the cage.

"Get…. get me out of here," Chris said softly.

Wyatt came to the cage and went to open it when he saw Chris shaking his head. Chris had pulled himself together somewhat. At least outwardly, inside Chris was hanging on by his fingernails. Wyatt wished that he could sense the link between them, but it was still unnervingly silent, not giving him even a remote sensation of what his brother was thinking or feeling.

"No, Wy… get the innocent out first," Chris was a step away from hyperventilating, barely managing to make himself appear calm to his brother, but the innocent had to come first.

Wyatt could see the fear in his brother's eyes, so he knew the composure was an act, "Chris, they want to sell you."

"Wy… get the innocent out first, please."

"Chris…"

"Innocents first Wyatt," Chris said, his eyes begging Wyatt not to argue with him.

"And you say that you aren't noble," Wyatt grumbled, going through the complex motions of opening Toby's cage. Trying to hurry before they come back. Wyatt looked towards his brother, "What happened back there?" He asked as he opened Chris' cage next.

"This isn't the place for that discussion," Chris said. When he was out, Wyatt hugged him tightly. Chris leaned into it briefly, but then pushed himself away. In a voice that was calmer than he felt, Chris said, "Later. Let's go…"

Wyatt nodded and together the three of them crept stealthily out of the store and into the streets of the marketplace.

"This way," Wyatt led them into the alley where he entered just a half hour before. He stepped towards the wall and nothing. He pressed his hands against it, frowning, "I don't understand."

"Oh no, you didn't get a pendant." Toby looked around in a panic. Then a high pitch squeal was emitted and had them covering their ears. "We need to hide!" Toby ran to where there were several crates and climbed inside of one. The brother's followed suit.

"What pendant?" Wyatt asked in a strained whisper but Toby didn't get a chance to answer. There were now demons searching everywhere and the three of them fell silent as they heard the footsteps approach the crates.

"They couldn't have gotten far," a gruff voice said. 

"Send someone out to see if they have left the market," hissed the icy voice of one of the Collectors.

"D.J." Wyatt whispered, his eyes wide with worry.

"Find those two. The witch must not be harmed."

------------------------------------Fade to Black----------------------------------------

The phone in Chris and Wyatt's apartment gave a jingling ring. The willowy brunette demon stood from where she had been lounging upon the couch and crossed the room towards it. It continued to ring as she looked at the number that flashed upon the screen. A twisted smile curved her thin lips. Her hand reached towards the phone to cease the ringing, but the answering machine turned on.

She drew her hand back and tilted her head to one side listening with mild amusement as the recorded voices of the Halliwell brothers came on.

Chris' voice was first, "Hey, you've reached Chris and Wyatt."

Wyatt's voice came quickly in the background, "What're you doing?"

Chris responded to his brother, "I'm recording an answering machine message."

Wyatt's voice came in the background again, "But we're here right now."

Chris let out a sigh and then answered Wyatt in an exasperated tone, "But we might not be here later."

"Oh," Wyatt's voice sounded, closer to the recorder and clearer, "Leave a message!"

_Beep_.

Piper Halliwell's worried sounding voice came on the line, "Hey boys, it's Mom. Is everything okay? I just got this horrible feeling that something's wrong. Are you there? Are you awake? Chris? Wyatt? Pick up the phone, it's Mom. I really want to hear your voices. I know it's after midnight there, you should be home. Pick up the phone if you're there. I… I guess you're not there. Please call me back when you get this message. I love you."

The brunette demoness smiled, "How sweet. Mommy is concerned. Thanks for calling Mommy." She pressed the delete button on the answering machine.

-------------------------------------Commercial Break--------------------------------


	6. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** _strikermac_ and I don't own Chris and Wyatt Halliwell, although we wish we did. We don't own Charmed either. It's such a tragedy, really. I know you guys agree with me, don't you?

**Author's Note:** I know there hasn't been an update in a while. The reason for that is two-fold. One I'm getting ready for the gallery show that I mentioned to you all, so that's been a priority for me. I have to make a living after all. The second reason is that _strikermac_ and I have been busy building the message boards to host our Destined: The Charmed Sons Virtual Spin-Off. I've got the link now in my profile here at fanfiction. There are additional things on the boards that are special 'extras' to accompany the show and updates to the series will be coming there first before we post them up anywhere else from now on. So if you want to be one of the first to get to read updates then you may want to join. :) There are games, character profiles, and other fun things there too.

Anyway, I've rambled on about that now, and I'm sure you're all just eager for this update. Enjoy! And, as always… reviews are greatly appreciated.

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**Destined: The Charmed Sons**

**Episode 1.2, Marketplace of Souls**

**Chapter Five**

"Can Rafi guess something that you might like?" the little man asked D.J. He was back to trimming his nails with a dagger and unnerving the half-manticore with every slight twist of the blade. All it would take to make sure Wyatt or Chris couldn't get back into their bodies was for him to ensure that they didn't have bodies to return to. D.J. hovered protectively over his friends.

"No," D.J. said, "I thought I told you to keep quiet."

Rafi made an amused sound and leaned forwards towards D.J., "Rafi has living pictures. Enchanted. Old movies stars. Rafi could make you a very nice deal on them. Yes, a nice deal for the half-demon friend of the Twice-Blessed and his brother."

D.J.'s green eyes flashed to the man, but he buttoned down on his curiosity. Living pictures? He shook his head. No. No. The man was trying to distract him on purpose. D.J. heard a sound at the back of the alley and twitched nervously, looking nervously over his shoulder. Just an alley cat racing away from the shadows. Still, D.J. lifted his hand from Chris' body to look at his watch. "Come on guys…"

"Not interested?" Rafi asked D.J.

"Do I _look_ like I want to make any deals with you?" D.J. growled at the Shopkeeper.

"Rafi could change your mind," the man said, dark eyes gleaming. He got up and was creeping closer to where D.J. hovered with his friend's motionless frames.

"You stay on your side of the alley," D.J. warned.

Rafi looked amused as he returned to 'his' side of the alley, "Yes, protective of and loyal to your friends. Not much of a demon. More human than demon. Manticores would tear you apart, Rafi thinks."

D.J. glared at him. The little man grew quiet so abruptly that D.J. was sure he was up to something. The half-manticore turned to look at him with upraised eyebrows and saw that the Shopkeeper was sniffing the air. Without a word the Shopkeeper got up and hurried from the alley, leaving D.J. alone.

"Oh… that can't be good," D.J. mumbled.

A low growl from behind the shaggy-haired man confirmed it and D.J. turned to look over his shoulder wide-eyed. "Aw crap!"

D.J. closed his eyes and shimmered with his two best friends' bodies to their apartment. The Shopkeeper was on his own with those demons. He was going to keep Wyatt and Chris from… oh, who was he kidding, the were already dead. He just had to keep their bodies safe so that they could _hopefully_ return to them.

------------------------------------Fade to Black----------------------------------------

None of the three corporal spirits moved from their hiding spot until long after the alley had fallen silent. Wyatt had wanted to burst out immediately to rescue D.J. but Chris had halted him with a hand on his arm and a firm look of warning. D.J. had been friends with them long enough. He would know what to do, even if he didn't have any real means of defense. Their friend wouldn't let any harm come to their bodies and he was good about keeping himself in one piece as well, so Chris knew he would be okay one way or another. He hoped.

The younger Halliwell still felt goose bumps on his arms and the twisting of his stomach. He couldn't quite meet Wyatt's gaze, even when his older brother stared at him he lowered his eyes.

Wyatt just rested a hand on his brother's shoulder without asking him what had happened. He couldn't sense him and didn't like the blank absence of not having him there, but knew Chris felt the same. Wyatt didn't like not having their link, it was like a security blanket. More than that, though, he didn't like being unable to send reassuring feelings to his little brother.

Toby cautiously peered from behind the crate, "I think they're gone… they'll be back though. The last time I escaped they were furious. I was the first soul that ever managed to escape. I've been running from them for close to a hundred years. They improved the cages since they last had me."

Wyatt knelt quietly in the crate, as the search for them ensued. Looking over at his little brother he frowned, whatever had happened in that back room was really bad. He squeezed Chris' shoulder and his little brother looked up at him and shook his head.

"This isn't the time." Chris took a deep breath, "Toby, how do we get one of these pendants?" Chris' voice was shaky.

"They are in the back rooms of the shops, where they took you," Toby said. The hundred-year-old 'teen' glanced at Chris and looked quickly away. But Wyatt saw Chris' reaction and wished he had his powers. If he did he would kill those bastards for whatever they did to his brother.

"What did they do to you?" Wyatt asked Chris. The brunette only closed his eyes and turned his head away from his brother. Wyatt frowned, "Chris?"

"I have to be able to think, Wy. Can't think about that."

"What did they do to you?" This time it was a demand, one that Chris knew he wouldn't be able to avoid. Chris leaned his head against the crate, wrapping his arms protectively around himself. He could feel Wyatt staring at him.

"It was… They…" Chris rubbed his hand over his face. "It was a violation. It was so…" the brunette witchlighter shook his head.

"Chris?" Wyatt asked, worrying.

"Can't. Let's go get that pendant." Chris tried to get up and Wyatt grabbed his arm.

Wyatt knew something was wrong then. His brother never went into anything without a plan or two. But the fact that Chris was willing to run headlong into danger to avoid the conversation said volumes and scared the hell out of Wyatt.

"Not yet," Toby whispered, hearing something beyond the crates.

"Talk to me Chris," Wyatt whispered, putting an arm around his brother.

Chris looked down. His voice was soft, and Wyatt could hear the sound of not wanting to speak something aloud in it. "One of the Collectors reached inside me. To show the buyer what he was getting. I felt so violated," Chris whispered. He lifted a shaky hand to his chest, rubbing the place where the Collector had reached into him, just over where his heart would be. "It was so…"

Chris' voice trailed off and Wyatt held onto his brother tighter.

"Intimate." It was Toby's voice that spoke the word so quietly.

"Yes," Chris whispered, "Like they touched me to my very core."

"Like… like a rape?" Wyatt asked, trying to get a better understanding of what Toby and Chris already seemed to know.

"Yes. Very much like that," Chris admitted with a shiver, glad that Wyatt was holding onto him. He thought of some of the children that he had met at the youth shelter, Safe Haven that he had first gone to when he was sixteen and had volunteered at through high school. Some had described being violated. Chris had always been able to sympathize, but he had never really _understood_ what they had gone through until right now. His eyes fell upon Toby. "Have they done that to you?"

"No. To others. You're holding up much better than any of them had." Toby wrapped his arms around his legs. He might have been a ghost for almost a century, but he was still a young teen and looked every inch of it. "Felix and Michael went mad. Moira and Thomas died. Not like as in soul separated from the body and moved on... died as in, their souls just faded and were gone."

"I'll kill them myself," Wyatt growled, "They can't do that to people's souls!"

"Shh!" Chris looked out the slats of the crate. "They've obviously never dealt with a witch." Chris looked over at Toby and knew by the teen's eyes, "Or did they?"

"They were all witches," the teenaged ghost said softly, "I used to be a witch too."

"What are you saying?" Wyatt asked, just a little too loud. "Are you saying what they did to my brother could kill his soul?"

"Or drive me crazy." Chris sighted heavily. This meant that while he still had a clear head, he had to figure out how to get Wyatt and the innocent to safety.

Toby shrank back away from Wyatt's intense blue gaze and whispered, "It's possible…"

"No!"

Chris grabbed Wyatt's arm as Toby quickly looked out of the crate to make sure that the demons hadn't heard. He had to check that the alley was still empty for now. It was.

Wyatt shook his head adamantly, "No, I did not come here to watch my baby brother's soul die."

"How did you get here Wy?" Chris asked.

Wyatt had a guilty look on his face as he looked away. "This isn't the time for that conversation."

"If I'm going to go nuts or my soul is going to die, I want to know how you got through that wall," Chris said.

"I told you I took a potion," Wyatt said. He didn't want to think about the prospect of his brother's soul dying. What exactly did that mean? If his brother's soul just died, would that mean he wouldn't be reborn again? Being a witchlighter, what did that mean specifically? Wyatt didn't want to think about it, because he was going to get his brother back. No matter what. He pushed his fingers through his blonde locks.

"You made a potion?" Chris looked at his brother questionably, doubt in his voice.

"I can make potions," Wyatt said. Chris' glare had him wanting to change the subject. "I can _so_ make a potion. Just because I can't name every ingredient ever used in the Book of Shadows and what it's for doesn't mean I'm not capable of making one."

"You done?" Chris asked, "What potion?"

Wyatt tried to wrack his brain for a believable answer and failed. He was a horrible liar anyway, taking after his Aunt Phoebe, but even if he had been a convincing liar… Chris would've seen right through him. It was pretty sad, the brother who hated not telling the truth was the one would could lie through his teeth and convince everyone that it was fact. Not that Wyatt liked to lie, he just found himself in situations where the skill would be useful. He'd have liked to be able to bend the truth as easily as Chris when he wanted to.

"Fine," Wyatt sighed, "Rafi gave it to me."

"The guy who sold us the podium?" Chris asked. Wyatt nodded and Chris groaned. "He's a Shopkeeper, Wy! You can't trust a Shopkeeper!"

Wyatt stared at him, hearing the same capital 'S' that D.J. had used. Wyatt wrinkled his nose, "How'd you know?'

"It was something he said… and he had a tattoo on his hand, I just looked it up. I looked it up when we got home," Chris said. He sighed, in frustration and raked his hands through his hair.

"I'm living with Superwitch," Wyatt muttered, rolling his eyes.

Chris wasn't in the mood for humor, "Can we concentrate on what was in the potion?"

"I don't know," Wyatt admitted. He knew his brother was going to be furious and braced himself for the vocal explosion.

"WYATT!" Chris shouted sharply.

Yep. Furious. Wyatt dropped his gaze for a moment, but when he lifted his blue eyes, he stared at Chris head on. "You were lying dead on the ground."

Chris stared at his brother. He had taken a potion from a Shopkeeper without knowing the ingredients? Now wasn't the time, but they needed to have a very serious discussion when they got back to the apartment. "Wyatt, what did the potion do?"

"It killed me," Wyatt said softly.

"WHAT?!" Chris exclaimed, louder than he had spoken before. His jaw dropped and Wyatt could see the fire lighting in the younger man's green eyes. "WHAT?!?" Wyatt was grateful that his little brother's powers weren't working here or there were some rather large items that could be used as projectiles in the alleyway.

"There's a spell though," Wyatt said quickly, "Someone just has to read it."

Chris shook his head, disbelief plain on his face. "Have you lost your mind? You committed…"

"Magical suicide, ya, ya, ya. I heard that from D.J."

"You called D.J.?" Chris asked, growing progressively more bewildered by the minute.

"You were dead Chris. I needed someone. Needed a friend. I couldn't feel you, it was like that day…" Wyatt's voice trailed off and even without the link between them Chris could see and recognize the quick play of emotions on his brother's face. Chris saw that and his anger evaporated. Wyatt kept his gaze turned away now, "It was worth the risk. You're worth the risk."

"When D.J. gives out the Reckless Witch of the Year Award, it goes to you," Chris said.

"As long as I don't lose my baby brother, I'll accept it," Wyatt said.

------------------------------------Fade to Black----------------------------------------

D.J. Anderson hated stressful situations. It was a wonder that he didn't need to take anxiety medications being friends with the Halliwell brothers. Life as one of their friends was a constant source of stress that hardly ever seemed entirely necessary. D.J. had known them his whole life, as far back as he could remember, and it seemed every week there was a new life or death scenario to add to his ever-growing list. Actually having his two best friends being dead was definitely a new one for him.

He could safely say that he had never imagined he would have to keep his friend's bodies safe and in one piece so that their spirits could re-enter them. Yet, here he was. Shimmering into the living room of the brother's apartment, D.J. shivered, looking at the two lifeless bodies he had brought with him from the alley. He was scared the demons might try to follow him to get to them. He hoped they didn't trace his shimmer. There were demons that could do that. He'd had experiences like that, doing reconnaissance for the brothers in the underworld.

Those who were friends with D.J. would be unlikely to image him as being half-demon, if they didn't previously have the knowledge. He could put on a show though with the best of them, to make himself seem more intimidating than he generally was. He was an actor, at least, he fancied himself to be one and he was getting his graduate degree in theatre and film. There were those who saw both sides of that though. People the brother's knew either thought the idea of D.J. passing himself off as truly demonic in the underworld was laughable, or they worried that he might actually be a better actor than anyone thought and was just playing the Halliwell's for fools and had been for years. That one day he would betray them.

That made him angry. He'd only ever had one of Wyatt and Chris' witch friends accuse him of such in the past, some kid at Magic School with a smart mouth. Had Wyatt not stepped up and defended him and held D.J. back from decking the kid, D.J. would've laid the boy flat out. As it was Chris had surprised everyone and decked the kid for him. The quietest Halliwell was also the one everyone had to watch out for. D.J. considered himself a lover more than a fighter though. He just hated when people doubted the sincerity of his friendship with Wyatt and Chris. He loved the two of them like they were his brothers. They were as much family to him as his father was, so having the two of them being dead made him feel ill. He would make good on his threat to Rafi. If anything happened to Wyatt and Chris, the little Shopkeeper would be the first one that D.J. would lose it on.

D.J. heard something in the apartment and lifted his eyes to see a crossbow pointed at his head and a slim, willowy brunette standing in the boy's apartment just in front of him. "Oh, for the love of cheese…" D.J. muttered, shimmering out with the brothers and reappearing with them behind the counter in the kitchen, just avoiding the fired bolt.

"This just makes matters easier if they're unable to fight," the woman said, "Come now D.J. just come out. Turn them over and I'll let you walk out of here alive."

D.J. moistened his lips and peered cautiously around the edge of the island. A crossbow bolt hit the cabinet just in front of him and he let out a squeak, ducking back. "Janna, if this is about me not calling you back Friday, you really don't have to take it out on my friends… let's discuss this over some nice tea or something…"

"This is about the brothers," Janna said coolly, "and about me wanting to make some money."

"So what're you trying to say? I mean, the whole trying to shoot me thing sort of puts a damper on our relationship honey," D.J. said, "I don't like being used for target practice."

"And I don't like you getting in the way of my work," Janna said.

"Really didn't realize you had this side to you," D.J. said, frowning down at Chris and Wyatt and closing his eyes for a moment, "I really thought we had a good thing going, but my Dad has this rule about me dating demons, so I don't think this is going to work out."

"You didn't think that I was really interested in you, did you? I was using you to get closer to them…"

"Guess that means you don't really like Clark Gable movies, huh?" D.J. asked, his eyes searching the kitchen. He could hear her walking closer. There were several small jars with blue liquid in them on the counter. D.J. mentally counted to three and made a run for them. Another crossbow bolt skimmed past him as he grabbed one of the vials. He threw it at her and missed.

"Don't quit your day job," Janna said, loading another bolt into her weapon and leveling it at him. He threw another vial and this one came too close, she lowered the cross bow and stared at him.

"The first two missed on purpose. The next one won't miss Janna," D.J. said, clutching his fist around it and raising his arm, "I'm not letting you near them. Don't make me do this…"

Janna narrowed her eyes, trying to gauge whether he was serious or not, then she shimmered out without a word. D.J. moistened his lips and set the potion down. He rested his hands on the counter and hung his head. "…D.J. you're an idiot."

------------------------------------Fade to Black----------------------------------------

Chris had gotten quiet again. Too quiet for Wyatt's liking. Sure he'd died for his brother, but Chris would die for him. It wasn't the first time that they had been in life and death situations. True, it was the first time they had been _dead_ in a life and death situation, but it wasn't the first time one of them had put themselves in danger for the other.

"Remember the first time you got shot with a darklighter arrow?" Wyatt asked as he looked over at his brother. He kept his voice quiet. Toby was listening and had indicated that there was still a demon at the mouth of the alley they had to worry about even if all of the others had left for now.

Chris shifted his eyes to Wyatt as he said, "Not really. I lost count after the hundredth hit." The younger witchlighter smiled slightly.

"That's not funny," Wyatt said. He narrowed his eyes. Those damn darklighters were always targeting his little brother. "I was in the hallway upstairs. He came in behind me. I never heard him, but you threw yourself in front of me. I think you might have been six or seven." Wyatt peaked out towards the marketplace, then looked back at his brother. "I don't want to lose you Chris. That's why I took the potion without thought. Don't be angry at me."

"I'm not angry at you Wyatt," Chris said, "Exasperated yes. Mom finds out and…"

"She's not gonna find out," Wyatt said, "We'll both get out of this."

Chris chose to go back to the memory that Wyatt had brought up, smiling ever so slightly, "You screamed for mom, I remember that before everything went black. You knew you couldn't touch the arrow."

Wyatt was staring off, caught in the memory and he whispered in a small voice, "What did you do?"

"That's what you said," Chris said softly. He placed a hand on his brother's shoulder, "We've always been willing to die for each other Wy. I'm not mad at you."

Wyatt tilted his head to one side, smiling as he remembered, "Mom made us sleep in their room for a week."

"Mom also told us that we couldn't leave the house. And I tend to remember us sitting on the Golden Gate Bridge for hours. You were really mad at me."

"That was the first time I really realized how easily you could have been killed. First time I felt the emptiness." Wyatt rubbed the side of his head. "It's scary Chris. Not being able to feel you. Sure we haven't really used the link in a while, but I could always feel you. I always knew that you were alive and well. I can't right now. I don't like it at all."

Chris frowned, "I know. But better that you couldn't feel what they did Wyatt."

"I'm going to get my powers back and come here and blow this place to bits," Wyatt promised.

"Living beings can't come through the wall. Well at least good living beings," Chris said.

"If it takes me the rest of my life, I'll figure it out," Wyatt said as he watched Chris look towards the buildings beyond their hiding place. "I'll get the pendant, you and Toby can stay here."

"I'm fine Wy. I was trying to figure out how to distract them, and I think I have a plan."

"And a plan B of course," Wyatt said.

"Of course," Chris said, smiling. His lips faltered downwards. He felt unbelievably light-headed. "We've got to do this quick."

"Why?" Wyatt asked.

"I'm not sure," Chris admitted, "But… I have a bad feeling Wy."

"I don't like bad. How bad?" Wyatt questioned.

"I'm feeling a little fuzzy," the younger Halliwell said.

"Push it away," Wyatt demanded, "I'm not losing you."

Chris forced a smile, "I'm trying."

Toby drew himself back into the conversation, gnawing on his lower lip, "Your soul has become used to not having your body." The ghostly teen looked at both of the brothers, but fixed his eyes upon Chris, "Soon, you won't be able to reenter it. When I escaped, I was too late… I couldn't get back. It's either that or what happened to Moira and Thomas is happening to you. Maybe a bit of both."

Color drained from Wyatt's face and he placed a hand on Chris' shoulder, holding onto his brother, "Tell me this plan. We need to do it now."

------------------------------------Fade to Black----------------------------------------

"This is your brilliant plan?" Wyatt hissed at Chris as his little brother looked into the window of the shop where just an hour ago the collector had violated him. Wyatt sneered as Chris pulled himself up into the window.

"I just said I had a plan, I didn't say it was 'brilliant'," Chris responded as he dropped into the room. Wyatt looked at Toby.

"Keep an eye open. We shouldn't be long." With that Wyatt pulled himself into the window. The room was rather small, but in the center had a small round platform that his little brother was anxiously staring at. "I am _so_ coming back and destroying this place. I'll find a way."

"I'm okay." Chris turned to look at the shelving along all of the walls. Then he walked closer and grabbed a large black leather book. Opening it he scanned the pages and looked at the last entry.

"That's what you are worth on the demonic black market?" Wyatt asked looking at the page. He squeezed Chris' shoulder. "I would have sold you years ago. Damn, could have had that car I wanted instead of the blue truck."

"You're so not funny." Chris looked at the detailed little notes and saw Wyatt's name. "Oh no."

"What?"

"They know you are here. The buyer who bought me offered twice as much for you."

"Really?" Wyatt smiled happily and Chris looked at him with exasperation.

"Okay, this is not something to be proud about stupid. We have to find that pendant and get the heck out of here." Chris looked in the assortment of drawers as Wyatt stared at the entry.

"Do you know any Ravens?"

"Raven? No. Why?"

"It says the Black Raven purchased you."

"There was a robed person here, never saw his face. He never spoke. When the hand went into me..." Chris rubbed his eyes wearily. Wyatt looked over at him and waited. "All I could see was stars. It was painful."

Wyatt squeezed Chris' shoulder and left Chris to look at the book while he searched around the rest of the small back room. Something caught his eye, there was a short cabinet built into the wall.

"Hey, I think I found something," he called to Chris.

Wyatt had the cabinet opened when Chris joined him after putting the book back in place. Inside the cabinet there were a variety of items, mostly jewelry or antique weapons. Most of them were probably either stolen from victims or had been used as payment for the purchases. There was one pendant resting in a drawer that Wyatt had pulled out. It was the only thing in that drawer and rested on a black velvet pillow. The chain was draped over the back of the pillow, but the circular pendant rested in the center. A bronze and silver pentagram with a ruby placed in the center of it, Latin words written around the outside.

"That looks like what Toby was describing." Wyatt reached for it but Chris grabbed his wrist.

"There's some sort of shield," Chris said. He touched either side of the drawer and the shield flickered. Wyatt smiled at his brother, and then picked it up.

"Go, we've been here too long." Wyatt shut the drawer. As he was closing the cabinet back, he looked inside and saw something else that caught his eye. "Chris! Do you still have that necklace of yours?"

"The triquetra? I lost it, first year of college." Chris was perched halfway back out of the window. He looked at Wyatt like he'd lost his mind. They were running out of time and Wyatt was worried about his jewelry.

"Stolen I believe is the term." Wyatt grabbed the triquetra and handed it to Chris. It glowed a brilliant blue as it touched Chris' hand. "Definitely yours."

"They were waiting for me? Was this a plan?" Chris looked confused; he still straddled the window as he looked at Wyatt.

"Let's worry about this later. We need to go." Wyatt gave Chris a light shove and the younger man dropped back outside of the shop. Wyatt jumped out the window next as Chris joined Toby who was crouched behind some barrels.

"We have it. " Chris said as he looked around. "Any sign?"

"No, none. It's quiet. Too quiet." Toby whispered.

"Okay, maybe it was a better plan than I thought," Wyatt mumbled, "I take back what I said."

"Don't speak so quickly Wy," Chris said, wide-eyed. His 'buyer', the Black Raven, stepped around the corner, the hood still drawn low over his face. Chris saw the evil smile that crossed the lower part of his face. It was the only part of the man's face that was visible, but it was more than enough. The air around the man even seemed darker than the rest of the environment. A shiver went straight down his spine as Chris grabbed Toby and Wyatt by the arm and they sprinted towards the alley as the alarms started going off again.

"Hold the pendant out!" Toby yelled as they ran toward the way out. As they did a whirlpool of color emerged in front of them as all three of them entered at the same time, then the wall was solid again.

They stopped just out side the wall, back in the nighttime alley. They looked around the empty alleyway and Wyatt looked at his hands and then at his brother and Toby, realizing that all three of them were now transparent again.

"Uh... where are our bodies? Where's D.J.?" Chris asked, looking at Wyatt. "...you don't think that they..."

"No. I'm sure D.J. is fine. I told him to shimmer us to the apartment if anything went wrong. When the demons went through that's probably where he went. I hope that's where he went… if something happened to him because of this…"

"Well, that's great if he did, D.J. will be safe, but how are we supposed to get back in our bodies if our bodies aren't here?" Chris asked, bending forwards. He really wasn't feeling well. "I'm starting to feel like I'm floating, Wy…"

"He'll be back. Just hang on a little longer Chris… please just hang on…" Chris started to get on his knees when the sound behind him had him turning quickly.

"Run!" Wyatt yelled as he grabbed Toby's arm and started out of the alley. With Chris close behind him they made their way into the main street of the marketplace. That's when Wyatt saw Rafi standing by his shop.

"Hurry. Young witchlighters must hurry." Rafi opened the door of his store and Wyatt ran in dragging Toby behind him. Chris looked over his shoulder, he felt the fingers trying to grab his shoulder as he burst through the door. Then the collectors just shrank back. Convinced that he didn't have to run any longer, Chris fell to his knees.

"Chris," Wyatt looked at him, worry knifing through him.

"Time's nearly up. I can feel it Wy. I need you to..."

"I don't want to hear it. D.J. will be back. He won't let us down." Wyatt prayed that D.J. wouldn't let them down.

"Young witchlighter must re-enter his body soon. Half-manticore not one to trust with such an important task." Rafi said as he walked behind his counter.

"D.J. would never betray us. I don't know exactly who you are or what game you are playing, but don't discredit our friend." Wyatt growled.

"Rafi is lucky that young witchlighter has no powers right now. He has such faith in the half-manticore."

"Damn straight." Wyatt looked over at his little brother. He was even more transparent than he was when he first saw him. Come on D.J. "Hey little brother, hang in there."

"Trying Wy. Fighting as hard as I can." Chris leaned backwards resting against a stack of carpets. "I'm not gonna make it Wy. You have to do some things for me."

"Quit talking like that. He won't let us down. You have to fight," Wyatt said, biting his lip. Toby sat down on the stack of carpets next to Chris and looked worried.

-------------------------------------Commercial Break--------------------------------

**Author's Note**: You read it. Now, please, click the button and write _strikermac_ and I a review. We always appreciate the feedback and we look forward to it!


	7. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** _strikermac_ and I don't own Chris and Wyatt Halliwell, although we wish we did. We don't own Charmed either. It's such a tragedy, really. I know you guys agree with me, don't you?

**Author's Note:** This was posted up on the Destined site before I left for vacation. The story is actually complete. So after I finish posting these two chapters up here, I'm going to be working on converting the story over to screenplay format to continue to allow viewers (readers) at D:TCS to choose how they want to read the series. Hope you enjoy Chapter Six.

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**Destined: The Charmed Sons**

**Episode 1.2, Marketplace of Souls**

**Chapter Six**

"D.J. my friend, you have the absolute worst luck with women," the shaggy-haired man muttered to himself as he stood in the Halliwell's kitchen. He still had his head hanging forward and the potion vial clutched in one hand as he leaned against the counter. He felt so utterly foolish and frankly, he felt used. He set the vial down and raked his hands through his hair before running them over his face, scratching at the stubbly beard he was growing. "A demon. How could you not realize she was a demon?"

He glanced at his feet where Wyatt and Chris' bodies lay motionless and shuddered. "A demon who wanted to use you to get to your friends no less. I really thought I'd found a good one that time, guys. I should've trusted ya when you said you had a bad feeling about her Chris, but right now I'm kind of glad you can't tell me 'I told you so'."

He sighed quietly and stood there in silence, trying to get his head back together and decide what he should do next. Should he risk going back to the alley now? Or should he wait? What if the demons traced his shimmer back to the Halliwell's apartment? Or what if Janna decided to test his resolve of whether he would use the potion on her? The sudden ringing of the phone caused D.J. to jump nearly a foot in the air. He grabbed the potion vial and spun around. Realization dawned on him and D.J. laughed nervously at himself. Just the phone.

Carefully D.J. stepped over Chris and Wyatt's bodies and walked over to answer the phone. When he picked up the receiver a small digital image of Piper Halliwell flickered onto the screen. D.J.'s heart jumped into his throat. Why did you answer the phone stupid?! he thought at himself. Outwardly he smiled and said cheerfully, "Uh, hey Ms. Halliwell."

The image of the Halliwell brothers' mother looked worried when she realized it wasn't one of her sons that had answered the phone. Piper's lips compressed together and then she said, "D.J. not that I'm not happy to see you, but why are you answering the phone instead of my boys? Your Dad didn't kick you out again did he?"

"No m'am, nothing like that," D.J. said lightly. If his father knew that he was standing in the brothers' kitchen with the two of them dead and that he'd been dating a demon, he would risk getting kicked out though. What his father didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

"Is everything okay?" Piper asked, still worried, "Isn't if after midnight on the east coast?"

"Yes m'am, it is. I'm just staying with Chris and Wy tonight. Everything is fine," D.J. said. Inwardly he winced as the 'f' word left his lips. Fine was not a term to be used around the Halliwells, but for once, Piper didn't latch onto the four letter word like she usually did. Even so, D.J. could see the suspicion on her face and the worry lines at the corners of her eyes. He plastered a fake smile on his face.

"Can I speak to my boys?" Piper asked.

"They've had a seriously rough day Ms. H. I don't think I could wake them up if I tried," D.J. replied smoothly. He cut his eyes behind him to the two bodies, making sure to keep himself in a position in front of the camera phone to avoid any glimpses of the apartment behind him. In a manner of speaking, he wasn't lying. He was just twisting the truth a little. Okay, he was twisting the truth a lot, but at least he managed to sound completely convincing doing it.

"They're asleep?" the chocolate-eyed woman on the screen questioned.

"Yes m'am," D.J. said, "They're dead tired."

Piper pressed her lips together and wrinkled her nose, "Oh. I tried to call a little while ago and no one answered. Did I wake you?"

"Wake me?" D.J. asked. As wound up as he was right now? Hah, that was a laugh. He doubted he would be able to sleep for a week after this experience. D.J. shrugged his shoulders and smiled at Piper. "No m'am. You didn't wake me. Insomnia. I'll let them know you called when they return to the land of the living."

"Okay," Piper said, "Take care sweetie and tell your Dad that I said hello. Leo and I miss him out here."

"He's loving New York… ah… well, I'll pass on your message to him. Bye," D.J. said. He hung up quickly and the image winked out. D.J. blew out a heavy breath and sank to the floor, resting his arms on top of his knees. His green eyes looked over the rims of his glasses towards the brothers, "You guys are more trouble than you're worth, you know that?"

D.J. made a face and got up to cross the room. He pocketed the last of the remaining potion vials on the counter just in case there were still demons in the alley. He didn't want to be unprepared. Bending over Chris and Wyatt, he placed a hand on each of the brother, "Here's to hoping the coast is clear and you guys come back soon. I don't want to have to act out Weekend at Bernies with you two."

------------------------------------Fade to Black----------------------------------------

A few seconds later, the air in the alley ripped, forming into the three shapes of D.J. and the Halliwell brothers. He looked up and around the alley and quickly straightened when he saw the two demons standing with their backs to him. D.J. grabbed one of the vials from his pocket and tossed it at the first demon. It screamed and exploded. D.J. followed up by throwing a second vial at the other demon, which also exploded.

Rafi came running into the alley and D.J. narrowed his eyes at him, pulling the last vial of potion from his pocket. He raised his arm at the Shopkeeper threateningly.

The little Indian man shook his head, "No, no. Half-manticore must hurry, Rafi came to get you. Young witchlighter is running out of time…"

"Where are they?" D.J. asked, looking towards Chris' body.

"Rafi's shop. Come! Come! Quickly!" the Shopkeeper turned and ran.

D.J. bent to touch the brother's again and shimmered with them to the shop.

------------------------------------Fade to Black----------------------------------------

Wyatt looked up as D.J. shimmered into the shop with their bodies. Just a second later Rafi came rushing in through the doors and the little man seemed surprised that D.J. had beaten him there. Chris was quiet, sitting on the rugs, and Wyatt didn't like how faded out his brother looked. The younger Halliwell was looking like he was hanging on by a thread. Wyatt looked at him worriedly, then looked at D.J.

D.J. didn't recognize the third ghost with the brothers, but he was relieved to see Chris and Wyatt together even here in that creepy little Rafi's shop. The little man had moved over in front of the counter, watching them almost birdlike with his dark eyes. D.J. reached into his back pocket and pulled out the spell.

"Read it Dee," Wyatt said anxiously.

"I'm not a witch stupid," D.J. said with a frown.

"Try, running out of time here, D.J." Wyatt barked. He looked worriedly towards Chris who was holding a hand up in front of his face. He knew Chris was worried about how transparent he was now too. Wyatt desperately needed to get back to his body so that he could bring his brother back before it was too late.

D.J. held the paper up and cleared his throat, feeling nervous as he began reciting the words that were on the paper aloud,

"The time has come for the cycle to end  
I say these words now to send  
Back to how things were before  
A potion was used only as a door  
Return this soul into its shell  
Life be restored say not farewell."

The half-manticore lowered the piece of paper when he was finished and looked at his friends. Wyatt still stood, transparent over his body and licked his lips nervously. He looked over his shoulder at Chris, whom Toby was trying his best to comfort with a hand on his shoulder. D.J. stared helplessly from Wyatt's body to his best friend's spirit. He leaned back against a pillar in the shop, crumpling the paper in his hand.

"I'm sorry, I'm not a witch," D.J. whispered. Tears fell down his pale cheeks and he bit his bottom lip. His eyes widened, even though they were still shining brightly with tears and he quickly grabbed his phone. Why hadn't he thought of this before?

"Who are you gonna call Dee?" Chris asked, even his voice sounded faint and faded. He looked towards the half-manticore, worried that D.J. might be calling their mother or another member of their family, which would not be good. Their mother would completely flip out, blow a gasket and drag he and Wyatt back to California by their ears. Piper couldn't find out they had been dead for several hours under any circumstances.

"Ghostbusters." D.J. muttered as the other end of the phone line rang, then opened up. The young woman on the other end never even got to answer it. "Andy, it's D.J. , I need a favor."

"D.J.? Now? I'm at work," Andy's voice sounded aloud as D.J. hit the speakerphone button on his cell.

"That's okay," D.J. said, "I just need you to repeat this spell after me." He held the paper up so that he could read it and flashed a tense smile towards Chris and Wyatt.

-------------------------------------Quick Cut To---------------------------------------

Detective Andrea Payton sat at her messy desk in the Boston Police Station. She had folders scattered above the surface, loose papers, and case-file photos. There were also framed pictures sitting on her desk. One was a picture of her with her three brothers, all four of them in police uniforms. Another was an older picture of her as a young girl sitting on her father's lap, his police cap on her head while she held his badge up proudly. The third framed photo was of her and her two nieces in front of the Golden Gate Bridge. She frowned as she held her cell phone to her ear and darted her eyes towards where her partner sat at his own desk nearby. The two of them were working a late night, finishing up paperwork and loose ends from a case they had just closed the day before.

The brunette woman grabbed her coffee and took a swig from it, but made a face. It had gotten cold without her realizing it. She set it back on her desk and tried to work the bitter taste from her tongue when she heard the last thing D.J. had said. She turned around in her chair and whispered harshly into the phone at him, "Whoa, whoa, whoa… what do you mean spell?"

Andrea heard D.J. sigh before he said, "Andy, listen. I need you to repeat after me. I need a witch to say a spell."

"D.J. can't this wait? I'm at work," the young woman twisted to look around the station. There were only two other officers there besides herself and her partner and no one was paying any attention to her, but even so she got up. Andrea stepped out into the empty corridor and put one hand on her hip while the other held the phone to her ear.

"Uh… No this can't wait," D.J. said, "It's kinda important. More like urgent. Life or death situation."

"Everything with you is a life or death situation," Andrea muttered as she leaned against the wall in the corridor, "What's that echo? Am I on speakerphone?"

"Yes," D.J. said, "How else do you think I'm going to get the spell to work? Andy, you don't understand. This isn't like the swimming pool incident. This really is important."

Andrea blew out a breath and rubbed her hand over her face. He really did sound like it was urgent. "I can't believe I'm doing this." She looked up and down the hallway to be sure no one else was around then finally sighed, "Fine… alright, let's do it and get it over with so I can get back to work."

D.J. read the spell line by line to Andrea and the young woman repeated it.

"The time has come for the cycle to end  
I say these words now to send  
Back to how things were before  
A potion was used only as a door  
Return this soul into its shell  
Life be restored say not..."

Andrea repeated the last word over the phone, "Farewell."

-------------------------------------Quick Cut To---------------------------------------

Back inside the cluttered store belonging to the Shopkeeper, D.J. was holding his phone out in front of him as Andrea's voice recited through the speakerphone. Wyatt's spirit swirled over his body and then filtered back down into it in a smoky haze. Wyatt coughed and opened his eyes, sitting upright as he took in ragged lungfuls of air. D.J. bent down next to him and rubbed Wyatt's back as the blonde shook off the after-effects of the potion and being reunited with his body again. D.J. let out a huge sigh of relief.

"Thanks Andy, you're a life-saver. Literally," D.J. said as he turned off the speakerphone and just put the phone up to his ear.

"Wait! D.J. what the hell was that?" the woman's voice screeched in his ear. D.J. winced and held the phone at arms' length, but her voice was still loud enough to be heard. Andy was shouting, "Did someone die? You just had me bring someone back from the dead. Is that even possible? I didn't think you could do that! D.J. who died? What the hell is going on?!"

D.J. made a face, "Uh…. can't really talk right now Andy, but thanks a lot!"

-------------------------------------Quick Cut To---------------------------------------

Andrea could hear the sound of being brushed off in his voice and she narrowed her eyes, clutching the phone tighter in her grip. Her eyes were blazing as she stood rigid in the middle of the hallway.

"Don't you dare hang up on me," Andrea threatened into the phone. Dead air rang in her ear, sounding the steady dial tone.

"AHHH!" she screamed in frustration, holding the small electronic device out in front of her. She closed the phone and tightened her fist around it. She raised her arm back and almost threw it, but lowered it when her partner stuck his dark-haired head out into the hallway with a look of concern. He must have heard her scream. Andrea shot him a glare and brushed past him, "I've got to go."

She hurried over to her desk, grabbed her keys and her purse and rushed back past her partner once more, racing out of the station. The young woman's partner stared after her with a bewildered expression on his face. Andrea didn't even care at that point. When she got her hands on D.J. heaven help the man.

-------------------------------------Quick Cut To---------------------------------------

"You're an idiot. You know that?" D.J. snapped at Wyatt, punching him in the arm.

Wyatt smiled tiredly at D.J. "I knew you'd take care of it Dee."

"When we get Chris back, I'm going to kill you," D.J. told the blonde.

Wyatt laughed weakly, "Point taken."

"Uh, a little help here…" Chris, still transparent and fading fast, said as he floated above his body. He looked at his nearly invisible hands and then down at his body on the floor of the shop. Chris didn't want to sound frightened, but he doubted he managed to pull off covering the fear he was feeling up.

"Sure, sorry," Wyatt said, crawling across the floor and over to his brother's still form.

"You're sorry? I'm dead," Chris said, trying to hide behind a sarcastic tone. He watched his brother and shook his head. Wyatt got on his knees and held his hands over Chris' body. There were a few tense moments as Wyatt waited for the golden glow to appear, then it happened. The warm light appeared from Wyatt's hands, making Wyatt feel more relieved than he had ever felt and he let out a breath that he hadn't realized that he was holding.

The transparency of Chris' spirit evaporated into his body and Chris groaned, his eyes fluttering open. "Wy, I'm not feeling so good."

"Easy little brother. You've been dead for quite a while, give yourself a little time," Wyatt said with a half smile. He withdrew his hands from where they'd been poised for healing and offered them to his brother to help him sit up. Chris sat up and with Wyatt's help, leaned against him. The younger Halliwell closed his eyes, and then tried to get to his feet.

"Easy." D.J. said. He grabbed Chris' arm as the younger man wavered. Wyatt was still on the ground, not quite trusting his legs yet. "Man, I thought you were toast," D.J. breathed.

Wyatt extended his hand to D.J. and the half-manticore helped him up as Chris sat back down on Rafi's stack of rugs.

"You okay little brother?" Wyatt asked.

"I'm good," Chris said, swallowing hard. There was still the queasy feeling in his stomach, but at least he didn't feel like he was slowly fading into nothingness.

Wyatt walked over and hugged him tightly. "Don't you ever die on me again."

"I'll try my best," the younger Halliwell promised. Wyatt took a step back and D.J. came over and hugged Chris. Chris patted the other man's back, "Thanks Dee."

"I swear, next time one of you two call me and says the other one is dead, I'm leaving you." D.J. hugged Wyatt next and Chris smiled and looked over at Toby.

Only then did they recognize that there was an older man standing there in the shop. He was an African American with grey hair and he was dressed in all black. Rafi was looking at him with upraised brows of appraisal, like he was trying to decide if he had anything at all he could sell the man. There was something vaguely familiar about the black man, or something that at least made Chris feel like he should recognize him.

"Uh, who are you?" Chris asked as got up on still shaky legs to put himself between the man and Toby. They didn't go through all of this to rescue the teenaged ghost to lose him now.

"I'm Clarence," the black man answered in a smooth voice. He smiled a kind smile and extended a hand towards the ghostly teen that Chris was protecting, "Hello Toby. I've been sent for you, to take you to your parents. They've been waiting quite a while for you son."

"My parents?" Toby took a step forward around from behind Chris. "They're waiting for me?"

"Whoa, how do we know you're not a demon?" Wyatt asked as he lifted his hands, but Clarence's smile calmed him. It wasn't a threatening smile, but rather a kind and gentle one that made it seem like all was going to be okay. Wyatt didn't lower his hands even so and his blue eyes were still watching the man warrily.

Clarence chuckled softly at the reaction of the Twice Blessed, "I've just been sent to bring him home. It's been far too long of a wait for his family."

Wyatt narrowed his eyes suspiciously, still ready to flick his wrists, but Chris stepped forward and pushed his brother's hands down. "You're an Angel of Death," Chris observed, looking at Clarence.

"Yes," the older black man said. He smiled at Toby, "Come."

The teen started towards him and Chris went to give the ghost a pat on the back, but stopped himself, since it would have just gone right through him. The Angel of Death was smiling directly at Chris.

"It's nice to see you again Chris," Clarence said. The words sent a slight shiver down Chris' spine, like someone walking over his grave. Clarence only kept that smile on his face as his dark eyes rested on the younger Halliwell a second longer than was comfortable. The man looked to Toby, offering the teen a hand.

"Thank you for everything," Toby said as he looked at the brothers. When he touched Clarence's hand he appeared solid just before the two figures disappeared into a flash of light.

Wyatt turned to look towards Chris. "Again? It's nice to see you _again_?" Wyatt asked sharply, looking at his little brother had some serious explaining to do.

"Don't ask me," Chris said with a shrug, "That's the first time I ever died. Maybe it was a past life me?" It was the truth. Granted, it was a half-truth. His parents had told him close to five years ago what had happened to his 'past life', but Wyatt still didn't know about it. Wyatt knowing would only lead to progressive questioning about the reasons why Chris had traveled back to the past. Chris didn't like keeping secrets from Wyatt, but some secrets, were just necessary.

Wyatt Halliwell could handle a lot, but Chris wasn't sure his brother was ready to know that he had been an evil dictator in another timeline... that was a concern for another day. For now, Chris would just have to keep the secret. _He kept a lot of secrets_, Chris could still hear his mother's tearful voice in his head from that day. Well, that had been a different version of himself, from a different timeline, and Chris was being truthful. He had never died before. That other Chris might have been him, but not _exactly_, so he wasn't really lying to Wyatt. He was just telling a selective version of the truth.

Wyatt's eyes narrowed suspiciously, "You're lying to me and I'll kill you and not make the effort to save your ass."

"What? You don't believe me? _I've_ never ever died before Wy," Chris said honestly.

-------------------------------------Commercial Break--------------------------------

**Author's Note**: I'll go on and answer some questions up front here that have already been asked at D:TCS. Yes, Chris is aware of his other-self that came from the future. He's been keeping the secret since he was sixteen. Wyatt doesn't know. How and when he'll find out in the series… I'm not at liberty yet to say. Hope you liked the chapter. Now to post the final Chapter of the episode and go back to make a name change in Chapter One where Sam is on the phone. It's really a small, insignificant thing, but I renamed someone she was referring to while talking with her co-worker.


	8. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** _strikermac_ and I don't own Chris and Wyatt Halliwell, although we wish we did. We don't own Charmed either. It's such a tragedy, really. I know you guys agree with me, don't you?

**Author's Note:** I'm not going to be long-winded right here… here is the last chapter of Season One, Episode Two of Destined. I hope you've enjoyed. Thank you all so much for the comments, reactions, and reviews!

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**Destined: The Charmed Sons**

**Episode 1.2, Marketplace of Souls**

**Chapter Seven**

Toby was gone along with Clarence and now that the Angel of Death had gone to reunite their innocent with his family in the afterlife, Chris blew out a breath. He laid back on the stack of rugs rubbing a hand on the back of his neck. He really hadn't expected to ever experience something like that. Not the 'out of body' experience, though he hadn't expected that either, what Chris was thinking of was meeting an Angel of Death that had known his other 'self'. He was still a little over a year younger than the future version that his parents had told him had traveled to the past to rescue his older brother. Chris moved his hand from the back of his neck to rub at his temples.

Speaking of his older brother, Wyatt was pacing back and forth yelling at him through their empathic link for something that he never did. Or was that something he hadn't done yet? His future self had changed the time line, thus creating a parallel plane with an alternate time line, since Wyatt was not evil. Time travel would give most people a headache, but Chris had a slight fascination with it. He just didn't have the energy to put into thinking through all of the twists and paradoxes that such a thing created. At that moment he was still feeling pretty awful and just wanted to go home so he could crawl into bed. What he didn't want was to continue hearing the continuous barrage of yelling inside his skull.

"Will you shut up?" Chris said to Wyatt aloud, "I, myself never died before." It was the truth. He couldn't say that he had died before tonight. His other self had been twenty-three, Chris wasn't even quite twenty-one yet.

D.J.'s eyebrows shot upwards as he looked from Chris to Wyatt and back again, sure that he was missing something.

Chris sighed and rubbed his temples as he explained to D.J. "He's yelling at me through our link and it's giving me a headache."

"I swear I find out you lied..." Just then the movement outside the door caught his eye. Wyatt gave up his berating of his little brother to look at the Shopkeeper. "Rafi, can those Collector's get in here?"

"They have not ever breached the barrier, but Rafi has never seen them have any real reason to try before," the little Indian man bobbed his head as he looked towards the doors. "Yes, young witchlighters must hurry, if they have found a way to get past the barrier, you are in danger. Soul Collectors do not like to lose property. Young witchlighters should leave."

"What about me?" D.J. asked as he glared at the Shopkeeper. Rafi waved a hand in dismissal of the half manticore. D.J. sniffed at him and crossed his arms over his chest. He almost hoped those demons did come into this shop and tore the place apart. Just so long as they waited until he and the brothers were long gone. There was a soft popping sound at the door and the lights in the shop fizzled with a flicker as whatever barrier Rafi had set up was broken. D.J. grimaced and looked at Chris. "I say we call it a night, what do you say, Wy?"

"I say these Collectors have no self-preservation instincts," Wyatt said, his blue eyes narrowed. He pushed his sleeves up and moved to stand in front of the door with his hands ready at his sides, "They messed with the wrong witch's little brother."

"Wy, don't be stupid," Chris said. The lights flickered as a soft blue pulse flowed from the door across the walls of the shop. Chris forced himself up to his feet as the first Collector shoved its way through the door.

"Should've stayed on the other side of their wall." Wyatt flexed his fingers, having no intention of leaving until he took care of these guys. The Collector solidified from its misty shadow form into a solid being with a bald head, large glossy black eyes and skin that appeared made of small black scales.

"Next time, you better stick to trying to kill me, you demonic black market filth." Wyatt blasted it and the Collector staggered backwards. A second Collector entered behind it and one the first had regained its footing the two started forwards again. Wyatt blasted it again to the same result. "Chris spell!"

"Spell, spell spell. Why do _I_ always have to come up with the spell?" Chris asked. He used his telekinesis to throw the first Collector back through the door as Wyatt blasted the second one enough to make it fall to the ground. It only served to make the demon angrier when it picked itself back up.

"Because that's what you _do_," Wyatt said, waving his hand to send both of the Collectors backwards with telekinesis, followed up with a combustive blast. Not that either were really doing a whole lot of good. "I blast things, you come up with spells in a pinch. Unless _you_ want to get me a piece of paper and throw these guys around for a while?"

Chris narrowed his eyes at Wyatt and wracked his brain for a spell. There hadn't been one in the Book of Shadows that he had seen, but Wyatt was right. He was good at coming up with spells in a pinch. His quick tongue had saved them more than a few times over the years.

Collector's of the stolen soul.  
Their victims fates they did fuel  
Release their captives from their doom  
While removing evil from this room  
Protect the souls of those trapped inside  
Allow Witches, Manticores and Shopkeepers to hide  
Their victims pain may they long endure  
While their cries we now ignore

The two Soul Collectors let out a low moaning howl before they dropped to the ground, curling in on themselves as they began to fade away before finally exploding into black ash. Chris moistened his lips and rubbed his chest as he looked at the spot where they had been. Wyatt rested a hand on Chris' shoulder and gave it a light squeeze.

"Think that freed the others that were trapped?" Wyatt asked.

Chris nodded, "Hope so, but we can't exactly go back through the wall to make sure..."

Wyatt glanced towards the little Shopkeeper who was bouncing slightly on his toes, as his dark eyes gleamed brightly. "How can Rafi thank you?" the little man asked, "Rafi's competition has been vanquished. Something special, Rafi thinks..." The Indian man held up something that was hanging from a chain and smiled toothily, "...found this in the alley... belongs to one of you, yes?"

Chis looked at the triquetra necklace and reached to his throat. Until he saw it in Rafi's hand it hadn't occurred to him that when his soul came through the wall and he had become transparent again - the necklace had fallen to the ground.

"Rafi will waive the Finders Fee, hmm?"

Chris took his necklace and the soft blue flash occurred when it touched his palm. He raised his eyebrows at Rafi before he clasped it around his neck, "How about you just give us an extra discount on purchases in the future?" Chris smiled as he turned toward Wyatt and D.J.

"Well that was a great night guys. But next time some horrid beings take your soul, can you call someone else?" D.J. asked, as he stepped up between the brothers and rested a hand on each of their shoulders.

"Seriously Dee, thanks," Wyatt said.

"I was kidding Wy," the shaggy-haired man said, "You know I'd do anything for you two losers."

"So, can we go home now?" Chris asked.

D.J. let his hands slide from their shoulders and jammed them into his pockets. "Oh, by the way your mom called," he tossed out casually.

"What?" Chris looked at him as his mouth dropped open.

"What did you tell her?" Wyatt asked, turning to look at D.J. as well.

"That you guys were dead tired and that I'd let you two know that she called when you got back to the land of the living," D.J. said with a deadpan delivery.

"She bought that?" Chris asked incredulously.

"I don't want to make it a habit of lying to your mom though. She'll blast me into bits." He smiled at the brothers. "Though technically I never lied to Ms. H."

"She's gonna blast you if she ever finds out." Wyatt said as he pushed his hands into his pockets, striking a similar pose as the half-manticore.

"_After_ she blasts us." Chris smiled, then repeated "Can we go home now? I'm exhausted."

Wyatt fished the car keys out of his pocket, "Orb or take the car?"

"We can get the car in the morning..."

"If your little Shopkeeper friend hasn't sold it by morning," D.J. said, sneering at Rafi.

Rafi made a soft 'hmpf' sound at the half-demon, "Rafi would not sell witchlighter's car. Witchlighters took care of competition." Rafi left the room and the brother's exchanged glances with one another.

"Never mind, let's just take the car. I don't want to come back here anytime soon." Wyatt opened the door and walked outside.

"I call the backseat." Chris said as he followed his brother onto the empty streets.

D.J. stood in the center of Rafi's shop and looked around the room when saw exactly what he wanted to see. There on the wall were exactly what Rafi had described. A set of three portraits, one a black and white image of Demi Moore who moved to blow him a kiss. D.J. ground his teeth together. As much as he really wanted those pictures he wasn't going to spend a dime with a Shopkeeper. And certainly not with _that_ creepy little man. With a sneer, he looked over his shoulder expecting to see Rafi, but he was alone. The half-manticore spared one last glimpse and shimmered out.

-------------------------Fade to Black---------------------------

The night sky began to brighten over the Boston city scape as the soft pink and gold hues of dawn started to chase away the stars. A few cars began to pass along the streets of the city and early morning joggers paced their way down the sidewalks and along the paths of the college campus. The sky continued to lighten up and spread a warm glow over everything as the scene settled on the architecture of the Avalon apartments. It trailed up to the third floor and the glass doors that led out onto a particular balcony.

Song: "Alive" --- P.O.D.

"I still think you're not telling me everything," Wyatt Halliwell said as he juggled his keys to the apartment he shared with his younger brother. Chris had fallen asleep in the back seat of the car on the way there so Wyatt hadn't been able to get him to say anything further about why an Angel of Death would recognize him. D.J. stood behind the two of them out in the hall, waiting with a tired smile on his face.

Chris shrugged his shoulders and stifled a yawn with his fist. "Believe whatever you want Wy, so long as you do it quietly."

The door to the apartment next door opened and Samara Hayley stepped out, dressed to go jogging, a small MP3 player attached to an arm band and a water bottle in hand. She had her headphones in so she just nodded to the brothers before she locked her apartment behind her and went jogging down the stairs. Wyatt leaned around his brother to watch her pass as she disappeared down the stairs.

D.J. shook his head, looking as well and Chris rolled his eyes. He snatched the keys from Wyatt's hand and unlocked their apartment. "I swear I've seen her somewhere before. Maybe a movie or something," D.J. said.

"Dee, tell me you don't plan on using the 'have I seen you somewhere before' line on our neighbor," Chris said.

"Oh, no, I'm swearing off of women for a while," D.J. vowed, thinking of Janna with a small grimace. He could still admirer the fairer sex though. He just had no intentions of dating again any time soon.

Chris sighed in annoyance, jiggling the key. He frowned, "Something's wrong with the lock."

"You say that D.J. and I bet you'll be taking some girl to see a movie by this Friday," Wyatt said, "Here, let me try." Wyatt jiggled the lock too, before he pulled the key out and stared at it. He was leaning towards the door to inspect the lock itself when the door opened from the inside. Wyatt suddenly found himself looking at a woman's slender waist encircled by a black belt with a silver buckle.

"You three have some serious explaining to do," a female voice said. Wyatt lifted his eyes to see Andrea standing there with her hands on her hips and a distinctly perturbed expression on her face. She shifted her eyes towards D.J. and tapped one foot on the ground.

"Did you do something to the lock?" Wyatt asked as he straightened.

"I just walked through the door, so no, I didn't do anything to your lock. But I _am_ going to do something to you if one of you doesn't tell me why D.J. called me and had me recite a rather interesting little rhyme to him over the phone. Something about returning a soul to its shell and not saying farewell. Is that ringing any bells?" the young woman asked, looking pointedly at D.J.

"Andy, Chris and I are really tired... can we just come in our apartment? Or are you going to stand in the way?" Wyatt asked, wrinkling his nose at her.

Andrea moved out of the way and the three of them walked inside. She closed the door, following closely behind D.J.

"Is anyone else hungry?" Chris asked, heading straight into the kitchenette.

"Starved," Wyatt said, virtually ignoring his ex-girlfriend.

"I could eat," D.J. replied, casting a nervous sideways glance at Andrea and hurrying over to the bar that separated the kitchen from the living room.

Andrea tapped D.J. on the shoulder, "Alright, spill it. Who died? Who did you have me bring back from the dead? You can't just call a girl and drop something like that on her without an explanation.

"My soul was stolen." Chris said casually as he opened the refrigerator.

"Your soul?" Andy looked at the younger Halliwell like he was kidding.

"Then Wyatt committed suicide." D.J. said as he sat at the island.

"Wyatt did what?" Andy turned to look at Wyatt, "You what?"

The broad shouldered blonde just shrugged. "I took a potion that would kill me so I could go get Chris, no big deal." Wyatt said as he grabbed the toolbox from under the sink.

"Hold the phone buster. You cannot take some potion to kill yourself! What were you thinking?" Andrea asked.

"That my little brother was laying dead in front of me Andy." He opened the door and examined the lock. "I couldn't let them have Chris' soul."

"Wasn't technically dead." Chris said quietly. He looked at the clock and said, "Actually, right _now_ would be about the time that I was truly dead."

Andrea folded her arms over her chest and stared at Wyatt with upraised eyebrows. "Don't give me that I had to save my little brother excuse. I know for a fact that he would have found a way out without you committing suicide."

"People are sleeping Andy, lower your voice." Wyatt said as he examined the lock more closely. "Someone fried our lock."

D.J. made a face as he looked at Wyatt crouched in front of the door. "Janna," he mumbled, nearly inaudibly under his breath.

"Hmm?" Wyatt asked.

"Oh, I forgot to mention while being chased by those Soul Collectors, I also met up with a demon here in the apartment," D.J. offered.

"You forgot?" Wyatt looked at his best friend and glared. "We just got back from a near death experience and you _forgot_ that we might run into a demon here?"

"Did you use my potions?" Chris asked as Andy watched the three males ignoring her.

"Well, I..." D.J. started.

"Shut up!" she exclaimed, exasperated, "Shut up for five seconds." She looked at Wyatt who was changing the lock on the door, he never looked up at her. She blew out a frustrated breath, then moved back over to watch Chris in the kitchen and her facial features softened as she asked the younger Halliwell, "You? Are you okay?" Chris looked up at her and smiled.

"I'm alive," Chris said.

"Great." She turned to look at D.J. "So which one of them did I bring back?"

"T.B."

"If you would have told me I would have hung up the phone." Wyatt only then looked up at her with an amused smile. "I ever hear you committed suicide Wyatt Halliwell I'll bring you back to life and kill you myself. If _anyone_ on this planet gets to kill you, its me!"

"Hey, I called that when he locked me in the closet when I was four." Chris sneered.

"You want to fight this out?" the brunette woman asked the younger Halliwell with a challenging smile.

"You want pancakes or eggs?" Chris looked over at his brother. _Can you do something about her?_ Chris asked through their empathic link.

"Scrambled eggs," Andrea said.

_Just be glad we're not dating anymore_, Wyatt's voice sounded in Chris' head.

_I thank the heavens every morning for that._ With that comment from his little brother Wyatt started laughing, which was a dead give away to Andrea and D.J. that silent communication was going on between the two brothers.

"No fair talking behind our backs." Andy said as Chris handed her a plate with her scrambled eggs.

"I'm exhausted, I think I'll go eat and crawl into bed." He yawned as he made D.J.'s eggs. "...there goes one of only three unexcused absences for the semester..."

"You could always call in dead?" D.J. said with a smile.

"You're so not funny." He handed D.J. his eggs and D.J. went to the refrigerator and grabbed the ketchup. "I still can not believe you use ketchup on your eggs."

"A lot of people do. I enjoy it. I saved both of your butts, allow me my rewards." D.J. sat down and shook the ketchup bottle managing to spluge the ketchup down his entire front. "Oh, great." D.J. got up and walked toward the closet.

"Wy?" Chris asked.

"Scrambled," the blonde said, still working on replacing the lock.

"I need to come here more often, Chris you really are talented in the kitchen." Andrea said, admiring the younger boy's practiced efforts, "Dating anyone?"

"Eww.." Chris wrinkled his nose. "You just don't date your brother's ex-girlfriends."

"You guys keep the extra towels in the..." D.J. asked, getting up. He was looking at his shirt and reached for the closet door.

"No!" Wyatt and Chris screamed, but it was too late. D.J.'s hand touched the handle and the half-manticore got zapped by the magical trap and went flying. The crystals landed in a circle and D.J. looked around.

"What the hell guys? This is the thanks I get for saving your lives?" D.J. sat with his arms folded over his chest, ketchup dripping down the front of his shirt as the three witches laughed hysterically.

-------------------------End of Episode---------------------------

**Author's Note**: There you have it… the completion of the second episode. I've been thinking of no longer posting these here on fanfiction and instead reserving the future episode beyond one and two for those folks on the Destined boards. We'll see. My vacation was good, I'm relaxed, refreshed, and inspired -- but this week I have my opening at the art gallery so things will still be a bit hectic for a while longer. Maybe once things slow down I'll contemplate returning to some other projects beyond Destined, and Pre-Destined. Someone's encouraging me to continue with my rewrites of Season Six, like "Destiny's Pull"… which has nothing to do with the other series that _strikermac_ and I work on together. It's just an alternate-reality version of a different direction Season Six could have taken if the Halliwell's knew who Chris was from the point of "Sword in the City" forward… though I may eventually trek backwards and rewrite some of the earlier episodes prior to that one to include Chris' thoughts. I don't know… just brainstorming. And here I am rambling away… I hope you liked this story, and you know the drill. Drop a review!


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